Of dorks and jocks
by Limberj
Summary: Kevin is the king of Peach Creek High, the Captain of the football team and probably the most fearful teen of the Cul-de-sac, but with a traumatic past haunting him. Edd is the smartest kid in school, loved by everyone with one exception. Something is slowly happening between these two, and it confuses them both. This is a KEVEDD that contains course words and sexual suggestions.
1. Demons within

This is what I've done, and what I'll do to the rest of the chapters: I will merge some chapters together to make them longer, and fewer! But it's still the same story :)

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I just want to thank whoever gave me my first comment on this story! He/she wrote it as a guest so I can't give them a shout out. But thank you, either way, for the comment and I will try and keep it up! :)  
And thank you **SweetCaroline1572** for the favorite and for following this story!

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Hi! I just want to thank "guest" that is commenting the chapters! I love reading them : ) And thank you **taylorthedkboi** for following my story! Happy reading.  
Also **Branbee** and **keveddfan104** , thank you for favoriting and following this fiction!

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 **Demons within**

 **Kevin**  
"What the fuck?"

"How could he do that?"

"Douche bag!"

"What the hell is wrong with you, asshole?"

"Go, just go, Kevin. Come on."

Nazz pushed Kevin in front of her, making him walk faster through the hallway. She had seen the look on his face; she had seen something that no one else did. She saw that he actually felt bad about what he had done for once, and tried to get him away from the commotion to help him.

All the people standing around him either booed at him, called him every name in the book or tried to tend to the boy sitting on the floor by the lockers. The boy that Kevin had just smacked in the face. It wasn't the first time Kevin punched someone, but it was the first time he had been physical with _him_.

"What is going on here?"

"Kevin just beat the crap out of Double D."

"Shhh…" The person who'd asked the question looked at Kevin with an alarmed expression on his face, while the one who'd replied to the question only shrugged – she just didn't give a damn about what Kevin thought about anyone anymore. As if she had lost all the respect she had once had for him.

"That's not fair, Sarah, you don't even know what happened." Nazz said in a low voice before she and Kevin had passed the whispering couple.

"Do I need to?" she snapped, took Jimmy's hand and tried to get closer to Edd in the middle of the crowd.

"Great job, Kevin. You've finally done it – the whole school hates your guts."

"Get lost, Jonny!" Nazz pushed Jonny out of their way, grabbed Kevin's arm and dragged him into the locker room leading to the indoor sports center.

"My name's Dragon!" Jonny shouted after them.

"Jesus Christ, everybody's going crazy over this." Nazz mumbled as she shut the door to the locker room and locked it. She watched Kevin sit down on a bench, lit a cig he had found in the pocket of his school jacket. "What the hell, man?" she asked him.

Kevin breathed shakily; it didn't seem like he was going to say anything, but he said through perched lips: "He had it coming."

"Are we talking about the same guy here? That was _Eddward Vincent_ , Kevin. Double D; do you remember him? Only a mad person would hit someone like-"

"Shut up!" Kevin exploded and rose up from his seat, cigarette hanging from his dry lip. "If you don't leave me alone soon I swear to God I will have to punch you too!"

"Hitting a girl? Is that where this is going? Well that is just perfect, asshole!" while she gave him a game about what he had done, Kevin opened the door to one of the stalls in the locker room and flung the toilet seat open. "Are you even listening?" she yelled and ran to stand outside of the stall, door still open. "Oh, what the- Kevin! That is so inappropriate on so many levels! We're in the middle of a conversation and this is the girls' changing room!"

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered while watching the yellow stream hit the water in the toilet bowl.

"Can't you just take this seriously? Hey, I'm talking to you, asshole!" she clapped her hands together in the rhythm of her words; trying to get his attention.

"You know what, cheerleader dork?" Kevin pulled the zipper up on his black skinny jeans and turned to the blonde upset girl behind him. He pointed at her with one of his long fingers and gnawed the inside of his cheek. "I've been called ' _asshole'_ so many times that I consider that as my middle name, already. You're just an annoying little fly to me, and if you don't shut the hell up and leave this room-" he got closer to her and she immediately took a step back. "- then I will ignore the fact that you don't have a dick between your legs. Got it, princess?"

Nazz swallowed the stingy feeling of tears in her throat and said in a calmer tone: "This is your last chance. I might be your only friend in this and you know that. Enough is enough, Kevin. Don't push me away."

Kevin smiled a crooked smile, with his upper lip curled over his yellowing teeth, licking the side of his corner upper teeth with the tip of his tongue. He chuckled, looked up in the ceiling and rolled his eyes. "You're not my friend. You've never been my friend and you will never be. Stop chasing the dream of being the girlfriend of the Captain of the football team; because that will never happen, loser."

"Loser. Dork." Nazz repeated. "Expand your vocabulary, will you? And you just lost a great chance today."

"I rather dodged a bullet, I'd say."

"Okay then. Fine! I'm outta here!" Nazz unlocked the door, swung it open, stormed out of the locker room and slammed the door with a loud bang behind her.

Kevin bit his cigarette off by the filter, flicked the lit part into one of the sinks and spitted out the filter in the trash bin. He wasn't planning on leaving any time soon. _I bet those dweebs are out there with pitch forks and torches_ , he thought.

He went into one of the stalls again, shut the door and sat down on the toilet with the lid down. He did everything in his power not to think about this past event but he just couldn't cut his masochistic, self-harming thoughts. With trembling legs, shaking hands and rapid breath, Kevin sat on that toilet until the school bell rang and didn't know how to react to what he had done but to try and forget about it. What else could he do?

Remorse… what a morbid, pathetic feeling…

All of a sudden the door to the locker room opened and voices came streaming into it. "I'm fine, really. I'm just gonna clean up, alright?"

"You're sure you don't need to go to the nurse's office?"

"Yes, I'm positive. Thank you, Eddy. See you in class in a minute, okay?"

All the muscles in Kevin's body tensed up, it was almost as if he stopped breathing not to get caught. But why, though? Why did he get nervous now all of a sudden? It must be because of all these strange feelings he had been feeling these last twenty minutes…

"Oh, geez, this will look ugly tomorrow." Kevin jerked, not prepared on Eddward talking to himself. "There's no blood, at least." He sighed.

It took a few seconds before Kevin had his second small heart attack. Edd shrieked bloody murder and the sound from water splashing down in the sink hit Kevin's ears and toilet stall.

"A cigarette butt in the sink; that is just so insanitary!" paper towels were being pulled from the dispenser and several cheats fell down into the bin. "Filthy, filthy…" Edd muttered. "Oh… looks like I need to change the bag now."

 _If that dork is going to stay here all day then I'll have to kill someone_! Kevin thought and couldn't help but feel like he was going to be stuck in here for a long time.

 **Eddward**  
Once Edd was finished with cleaning up the mess that he thought he was responsible for (there had been water all over the floor as well); he looked at himself in the mirror again. The skin around his left eye looked even more swollen and stretched now than what it had done when he first came into this changing room; and he knew that it was only going to get worse by nightfall. He sighed to himself and sat down on a bench in the middle of the room between the sinks and the toilet stalls.

Edd was used to having bruises and small wounds on his knees and elbows every so often (even though he was cautious by nature he found himself tripping over things on a daily basis), but this was the first time that another person had caused him something as big as a black eye.

Heck; his two best friends were regularly fighting each other in his direct presence, but they never laid a finger on the smartest guy in the trio. Edd's two best friends; Ed and Eddy; always made up after they had fought, but it almost always ended in a fist fight between them two. But whenever they got angry at Edd, they just didn't go further than to yell at him… maybe it was Edd's ability to calm people down that saved him every time?

This time though, outside in the hallway, he had failed to do so and received a big and hard fist right on his left eye. Edd felt more surprised to have received a punch, rather than what he felt that it had hurt. He was used to people liking him and thinking that he was some kind of saint… well, not a saint, that would be silly! But whenever somebody needed help with something they usually came to him for advice. Everything from homework to relationship problems, even though he had never been in one himself. So he would never dream of being pounded on by someone he hadn't talked to in so many years; and he stood clueless as for what he had done to upset him.

He didn't hate Kevin for what he had done, certainly not! It was almost like Edd brought all of this on himself, he thought that maybe he had crossed some line or said anything inappropriate. That was something that Edd usually did; he blamed himself for things other did and forgave them almost immediately.

He hadn't talked to Kevin in several years and Kevin had never so much as to say anything mean to him in return. They had lived across from each other on that Cul-de-sac their entire life (well, almost; Edd didn't move to Peach Creek until he was about four years old) and Kevin hadn't even looked to Edd's house in the last three or so years. The thing that had happened between them today, the wall that was built up between them but that was now broken, must have been due to something Edd did or said, but he just couldn't figure out as of what.

Something happened inside Edd's body. His stomach pulled together, as if it clenched to his insides, making him nauseous. The surprise and adrenalin had subsided and pain was shooting from his left eye into his whole face and made him feel dizzy. He quickly stood up and tried to splash some cold water on the damaged area, but nothing seemed to work.

"Oh, dear. Maybe I need to go to the nurse's office after all." He said to himself and grabbed a hold on the sink in front of him, tried not to lose balance and fall.

But he didn't have time to even think any further when he looked up from the sink again and into the mirror. A lightning struck the top of his head and spread all over his body in just a split second when he noticed that someone stood behind him. And it wasn't just any person… it was the school bully.

Kevin.

For a few seconds they just stared at each other; Edd's pale face into Kevin's bored facade. His red baseball cap was as always turned backwards and a few strands of ginger hair poked out of the hole in the cap. His face ripped in half by a wide smile and his eyes looked deep and fiendishly into Edd's.

Edd saw that this encounter wasn't going to be a peaceful one; he _had_ actually torn the wall between them; and Kevin didn't look apologetic at all so Edd was forced to think fast. He found the exit sign in the corner of his eye and hurried over to the door; but the second before he put his hand on the door handle Kevin's hand had been much quicker – instead of reaching for the handle Kevin had reached for the lock. He locked the door with an echoing click.

"Well, well, Sockhead…." Kevin said while taking a step closer to Edd, making Edd to back up into the sink. "Looks like it's just you and me now."

Only Eddy called Edd _Sockhead_ nowadays, but he knew that Kevin didn't mean it in a friendly matter. "Wh-what are you going to do, Ke-Kevin?" Edd stammered.

"Why, you turned the whole school against me so I guess that you need to pay the price."

"I-I-I don't even know what I did…"

"You know fucking _well_ what you did, Double dweeb!" Kevin shouted and Edd ducked with his arms above his head.

Kevin was famous for beating kids up on a daily basis on this school, and anyone that tried to stand up for themselves got the worse beatings. So Edd had two choices; he could try and fight Kevin (and that would definitely not end well), or he could just give up, let Kevin do his worse and maybe be able to crawl to the nurse's office when it was over.

Edd thought about his possibilities and felt the nausea hit harder than ever. His eye was throbbing of pain and his head spun like a carousel out of control. How could he possibly handle more pain? He wasn't used to having this much and now he was preparing for more.

Without being able to stop it he felt tears stream down his face and he started to sob uncontrollably. He pulled down his ski hat over his face, not wanting to see what was coming for him.

"What are you doing, dork?" Kevin backed away in surprise. "Stop crying!" Edd jumped from Kevin's sudden outburst and heard steps stomping over to the toilet stalls. He looked up when he heard Kevin punching the wall inside the stall and calling names for every punch: "Dork! Dweeb! Loser! Wimp! Fag! Poindexter!"

Edd had never seen the football team's Captain this furious before. _Now I have done it_ , Edd thought to himself, _this time Kevin will murder someone; and that someone will be me_.

 **Kevin**

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Kevin hadn't done much during summer break except for riding his bike around the neighborhood. Almost all the neighboring kids had gone for long camping trips with their parents or visited families in other states and cities. Kevin was the only one left on the Cul-de-sac, well… Him and the Eds.

They were this unbreakable trio of best friends who hardly let anybody from the outside into their little group. Kevin had once tried to become one of them, but he gave up after a while as they didn't show any sign of wanting him to be one of the originals. He found himself to be the one to call _them_ all the time; the only time they wanted something from _him_ was when they wanted Kevin to give them jawbreakers. Kevin's father worked at this factory that made these almost mythical big caramels, so they always had an unlimited supply in their garage – that was the only reason the Eds wanted anything to do with him.

Well, fuck those guys. Fuck them all the way to hell.

Kevin's birthday party had been in the beginning of the summer since all of his friends were going to be going away, but that party had been a bit awkward seeing he was slipping away from them either way. It was like he was growing apart from all of his childhood friends who he didn't have anything in common with anymore. And half of them were going to switch schools after this summer anyway, so they would all split up.

On his actual birthday in the middle of the summer, Kevin was all alone in his dark bedroom; curtains shut. He laid on his bed, throwing a tennis ball in the air and catching it, and thought about his loneliness when the door opened.

"Happy fourteenth birthday, Kev." His mother said, walked past his bed and opened the blinds, letting the sunshine pour into the messy, ordinary teenage boy bedroom. "Your dad and I have a special gift for our special guy."

"Oh, yeah?" Kevin muttered. His parent's gifts hadn't made a very big impression on him since they gave him his bike seven years ago… Last year they thought that he would be happy to know that he was going to become a big brother in a few months; but they had been so wrong about that. "What will it be this time?" he asked his mother, almost so quietly that he was the only one hearing it.

"Come on, pal, it's in the living room." Said his father. He gave Kevin's mother and smile, and she looked playfully at her husband.

Kevin sighed, but he was so tremendously bored that he followed them anyway out of his room. As they got to the living room Kevin noticed that something was wrong with it. Instead of the coffee table that usually stood between the couches, there was a big moving box standing on the floor.

"Sooo… you're telling me that we're moving?" he asked his parents.

"Don't be silly, honey! Open it." His mother said. She bounced up and down out of excitement. Kevin wanted to offer _her_ to open the gift instead of him, but rolled his eyes and got closer to the box.

He opened the first flap with a sigh and the second one with a groan. But as he reached for the third flap something small and wet touched his fingers. Kevin backed away with a shriek and a firm grip around his fingers with his other hand.

"Just open it, silly!" his mother laughed.

Kevin crept closer to the box again, carefully opened the third flap and the light from the ceiling lamp shone down into the box, reveling what was in it. "Holy shit, dude…" he whispered.

"Happy birthday, son." His father said behind him, arms proudly crossed over his chest.

"Happy birthday, Kevin! Don't you just love it?" his mother cheered, clapping her hands together.

"I, uh…" Kevin looked down on the white puppy that barked and snarled, trying to get out of the box and closer to Kevin, looking up on him with pointy ears and small, almost all black eyes. "I mean… it's a dog."

"Yeah! You can name her, honey." Said his mother. "She's all yours now."

Something bubbled inside of Kevin, no; boiled. Did his parents really think that he was that pathetic and lonely that they got him a _dog_ as company? "What am I supposed to do with _this_?" Kevin asked his parents and turned around. "It's just a stupid dog."

"Watch it, boy." His father warned him and his mother's eyes were watering.

"I thought you'd like it." She said quietly. "You've been acting so strange these past couple of months; and now all your friends are gone for the summer and-"

"Like it? I _hate_ it! I hate you, and you and I hate Calvin!" Kevin stomped back to his room. "I hate this house and everything in it!" he slammed the door after entering the room and fell down on his bed again.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Dork! Dweeb! Loser! Wimp! Fag! Poindexter!" Seventeen year old Kevin kept punching the wall with his right fist without noticing that it started to crumble underneath his knuckles. "You dumb little shit! Stupid son of a… FUCK!" He stormed out of the stall with all of his attention directed at the school's smartest student who was sliding on the wall with his back, and down on the floor, tears still dripping from his chin. Kevin punched one of the lockers, making the thin sheet metal door creek open as it had bent inwards like a tin can. "God _dammit_ , Edd!" he yelled. "You're making it hard for me to make fun of you!"

Edd pulled his legs up to his body, hugging them with one of his arms around them and kept the ski hat half hiding his blackening eye with the other hand. He shivered and cried. "I-I am sorry, Kevin. I didn't mean… I didn't mean to-"

"Stop apologizing, twerp!" Kevin pulled his red baseball cap off of his ginger head and threw it on the ground. "What is wrong with you?! I am the one acting like a maniac and you apologize to _me_?"

"I- I'm… I…" Edd stammered.

Kevin let out a deep sigh, picked his cap up from the floor and walked over to the terrified boy, all hunched up by the wall next to the door. He never thought that he would do something like this, but Kevin sat down on the floor next to the sobbing Edd. He pulled one of his legs up to his body; the leg closest to Edd, to build a wall between them so that they didn't have to look at each other; and asked:

"How did you ever survive this school?"

 **Eddward**  
"How did you ever survive this school?" Kevin asked him.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Edd asked. He calmed down a little as he noticed that Kevin spoke to him in a much more relaxed tone.

"What I mean, dork, is that you're being too soft. You apologize too much, you know? You need to step up, be a man. I mean, how old are you now? Sixteen, seventeen?"

Edd sniffled a little, tried to wipe his tears on his sleeve and glanced at the bully next to him. "I'll turn seventeen in two months, only three days before you turn eighteen. Don't you remember that they used to merge our birthday parties into one a few years ago?"

"Yeah, I forgot all of that." Kevin murmured through clenched teeth and pressed his fingers against his eyelids; looking like he was fuming a little again. "All I'm saying is that you're almost a man now, and you need to grow up and stand up for yourself, kid. That's exactly what _I_ had to do when I started here. Do you think that I hid and cried whenever they started to smack me around? Hell no! I had to fight them every damn day the first year. I know you're a junior, but you get my drift, right?"

Edd was shocked over how this all had turned out. And he had never heard this story before. He remembered the time when Kevin, Nazz and Jonny started Peach Creek High, while he, Ed and Eddy still had one year left at Peach Creek's junior High. And Rolf had already finished High school when Kevin started here. Kevin slowly changed through that first year and stopped riding his bike and walking his dog in the neighborhood. He regularly and more increasingly came home with blood dripping from his nose and his hair all messy; and he snapped at everyone who tried to ask him about it.

Since Nazz and Kevin had been inseparable for so many years, the kids of the Cul-de-sac tried to get her to spill anything about their new school, but even Nazz fell clueless – she and Kevin hadn't been friends for a couple of years either so she didn't have all the inside info. All she knew was that the seniors had been rough on Kevin, and when it finally was time for Ed, Edd and Eddy to go to the High School (one year later); they saw a Kevin they'd never met before.

He was the King of Peach Creek High. He was the Captain of the football team and everyone was either afraid of him, wanted to be him or wanted to date him. He was the biggest bully of all time and he always teased Edd's two friends to the brim of them losing it. Eddy had had his fair share of Kevin's rough housing; even Ed had been punched in his face but he didn't seem to get affected at all by that, only that he was terrified of the older teen, but Double D on the other hand… Kevin never looked at him in the wrong way, never said anything mean to him and he sure as hell had never touched him before.

Something during that summer break all these years ago or something on this school had changed the old Kevin. And now he was going to tell Edd the story of how he became the person he is today; he was going to tell him how it all started.

Kevin cleared his throat when he continued: "The only person I knew when I started on this God forsaken school was Nazz, but she didn't talk to me anymore, as much as I didn't talk to her. I was all alone and those bloodhounds to bullies sniffed me out, made my life a fucking hell. At first I didn't know what to do so I just let them do it. What _should_ I have done? I was fourteen and they were like three years older than me and big. I was tall, yes, and had a little muscle to me but I couldn't do _anything_ against three football jocks with a bloodlust like sharks…"

Edd listened intensively to his story. He didn't know this side of Kevin and didn't know that he had it. _But_ , he thought to himself, _I guess that we're all just human after all_.

"I had to do _something_ you know? So I started to work out. Every day, every waking minute. I just pushed and pushed until I thought that I had it." Kevin glanced down on Edd; puberty had made Kevin slightly taller than the younger teen that once had been taller than him. "They broke me down on the first try, and it was brutal." he chuckled from the memory, clicked with his tongue and looked straight at the younger student. Edd looked at Kevin who'd lifted his red baseball cap and pointed with his finger. "See this scar going all the way from my right eyebrow to the ear? Yeah, they cracked my skull open. Five tacks in the skull and nineteen stitches to close the wound up."

"Oh, dear…" Edd mumbled, feeling nauseous again. But this time he wanted to vomit from the picture Kevin put in his head.

"Yeah, _oh dear_ , alright." Kevin agreed. "They all got expelled so I never had my chance to take my revenge on them. But that only taught me the greatest lesson of my life."

"What was that?" Edd asked.

"That you can never rely on anybody to step up for you and be your friend; that only _you_ have your own back. Never trust anyone. We are born alone and we will sure as hell die alone."

"But you're not alone." Edd whispered. "You have friends from the football team. Aren't they your friends?"

"Those guys?" Kevin snorted. "Do you see any of them here now? I have no friends, double dweeb, I have subjects and they do whatever I want them to."

"I'm sorry for that, Kevin."

"For what?" Kevin suddenly sounded wary, and his thick eyebrows dropped down over his light green eyes. "Don't you dare feel sorry for me, dork, or that will be the last thing you'll ever do." Kevin stood up on his feet again, started pacing in the room. "I thought that you were cool, and now you've ruined it again."

Edd didn't dare say anything. What he _wanted_ to do was to apologize again over how he had angered the neurotic teen… _again_ , and he knew that _that_ would only make matters worse.

"That was _my_ piece of advice. Now, cherish it." Kevin said. He unlocked the door and exited the changing room without another word, thus concluded the discussion.

Oh, well, no need to linger any longer, time for classes. Edd stood up as well, had one last look in the mirror and turned around to open the door, and when he left the changing room and went down the hallway, he passed another door on the way. He stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turned his head and read the sign on the door he had just passed.

 _Boys' Locker room_ , the sign said.

Edd turned around once more and read the sign on the door he had just left – it said _Girls' Locker room_.

He blushed as he hurried down the hallway. _Damn all these infrastructures making everything look identical!_

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Search for **jeelindberg** on tumblr for fanart!


	2. A boy and his dog

Thank you lashaundra. **stewart1995** , my new follower!

Thank you for favoriting and **SvartaAnkan** for favoriting and following this story! Welcome!  
And don't forget to check my tumblr where I post fan art and art from this story! Search for **letsgetschwifty**!  
Also; Thank you **Revan Mickeychu** for favoriting and **Winter and Spring** for favoriting and following this story!  
If I forgot anybody, please tell me! I'd love to thank everyone of you :)

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Thank you **4nchoredh3arts** for following, and **Thepeopleinmyheadarenuts** for following and favoriting! And thank you **SvartaAnkan** for the comment :D

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 **A boy and his dog**

 **Kevin**  
Instead of attending the rest of the day's classes, Kevin took his motorcycle from the school parking lot and drove home. When he was fifteen years of age, he found an old -78 Yamaha XS 650 mid-sized motorcycle on the junkyard that he immediately began to rebuild, made repairs to and found spare parts to make it almost new again. This bike was now one of his most cherished possessions… one of them.

On the arrival to the rainy Cul-de-sac he gazed over at the white house across to his. Something about it didn't feel as empty anymore, but Kevin shrugged before thinking too much about it, turned the engine off and started rolling the bike towards the garage door. He wasn't going to leave it out in the rain – oh, no; not his baby.

When he had parked the bike in the garage and lowered the door, he opened the door leading into the house from the garage and shouted: "Honey, I'm home!"

This was something that Kevin automatically yelled every time he came home from wherever he'd been, and every time heard the sound of paws and claws clicking on the floor; that came closer to him in the kitchen. Honey, the now four year old Bull terrier, ran into the kitchen with tired eyes, hunched back, ears pulled back so far you almost didn't see them, and showing teeth – that was a sign of affection rather than aggression; and that was a thing that made her ever so special to him.

Kevin crouched down to pet and scratch her all over her little body as she squirmed around his legs with a small, wagging tale. Honey had always behaved this goofy; the only thing about her was that she was so tired and low nowadays that she didn't have lots of energy to be her goofy self anymore.

"Didn't you hear me coming home?" Kevin asked her, didn't expect her to reply. But if she did he wouldn't have appreciated the answer. "Or did you sleep, you little monster?"

He picked her up, letting her lick him all over his face, and carried her to the living room where he put her down on the couch next to him. She crawled into his lap and laid down, expecting him to keep scratching her on her back.

"And they say that _I_ am manipulative?" he chuckled as he did what she wanted.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Fourteen year old Kevin sat on the floor in his bedroom on the night of his birthday, leaning against his bed and throwing a tennis ball against the opposite wall. The ball bounced back every time and he caught it so that he could throw it at the wall again. The tiniest whimper caught his attention, but he didn't look at his door until it was scratched on.

"Hey, stop it!" he shouted to the shadow under his door. But that only triggered whatever was out there, scratching intensified, forcing Kevin to stand up, open the door and looked down at the puppy by his feet. "I sad; stop it, cone-face. You'll sabotage the door!"

The puppy jumped around Kevin's feet to show him that it wanted to play and began tugging the frizzy part of his jeans that he had been stepping on with his heels, making the jeans look worn out. Kevin sat down on one knee, grabbing the puppy by its neck, held it in front of his face and analyzed it. But the little animal wasn't scared of Kevin, not one bit; once it was the same height as his nose it made a full fulmination, biting the tip of Kevin's nose. But it didn't bite hard enough to make Kevin scream and throw himself away in pain… no, he let the puppy do whatever it wanted to him.

"You're a little monster, aren't you?"

He remembered what his mother had said a few hours prior: " _You can name her, honey_ " …

He knew that his mother had called _him_ 'honey' and didn't suggest any names for the dog, but Kevin liked the idea. "Honey, huh? Well, that will be your name from now on."

From that day, Kevin and Honey were inseparable; whenever Kevin took his bike for a ride he also took his dog for a run and Honey never complained. She was kind of small for her breed; with shorter legs than what a normal Bull terrier should have; so Kevin felt especially protective over her, not letting anyone except for himself to take her out for walks. She was the only girl he had ever liked more than his bike; and that said a lot about this dog.

Once summer break was over Kevin started a new high school farther away from the Cul-de-sac, so he couldn't ride his bike to school anymore; he was forced to take the bus with Nazz and Jonny. Kevin sat all by himself in the back of the bus the first day, but Nazz and Jonny; who were still friendly to each other; became really good friends during those twenty minutes it took them to come to their new high across town. Nazz and Jonny didn't even notice Kevin in the back, and that was just how he wanted it to be.

The new found friends were teasing each other on the way to the building from the bus stop, but just as all three of them entered the school area they had several curious eyes glued on them. Kevin slowed down; he didn't want his new school mates to see him as the awkward third wheel, so he'd rather look like he was all alone.

Misery struck the first day already. The Captain of the football team and two of his team mates started teasing him, seeing he did everything to keep away from crowds. "A tough guy, eh?" they had said to Kevin as he tried to stand his ground… well, at first, at least.

They often lured him into narrow spaces and jerked him around, pinched him and teasing him, and he stopped caring as it only got worse whenever he tried to fight back. At least, when he was passive around them, they weren't _too_ hard on him.

It didn't stop there…

A month into his freshman year Kevin got off the school bus with a big lump in his stomach, something he usually had nowadays, with his backpack firmly embraced for comfort as he walked across the properties to come to the building. Just outside of it, by the staircase, his bullies jumped him.

Nazz, who had stepped off the bus just before Kevin, opened the door to the entrance again and went to see what was going on outside. "Oh, my… Jonny, do something." Kevin could hear her whisper, but he tried to ignore it; feeling ashamed of being the victim in this.

"I can't do anything…" Jonny mumbled.

The Captain of the football team was all caught up in a why-are-you-hitting-yourself-game with Kevin.

"Jonny, please!" Nazz wheezed.

One of the football players turned to Jonny as he took a step closer to the bullies out on the stairs. "If you try anything, melon head, then _you_ will take this loser's place."

It all stopped for a moment. Kevin kept looking down on the ground, unable to look the only two people that could help him, in the eyes… and Jonny replied: "Ehhh… I don't want any trouble. Come on, Nazz."

"But Kevin..?"

"It's him or me, okay?"

Kevin listened intensively, even though it may have looked like he didn't, and then he heard the door close again. Nazz had decided to take Jonny's side; she didn't care about Kevin. Why would she? He had been pushing her away for months now so why would she try to stand up for him now?

"Why are you hitting yourself?"

Kevin got off the school bus and landed his steps on the sidewalk of his neighborhood. He didn't care about the couple that had been whispering about him this whole bus ride, and took a deep breath as he heard them come closer to him. First he thought that they were just going to pass him but he heard Nazz say:

"Kevin… we're so sorry for what happened earlier. I know that we should've done something but I was just so scared… I will tell my mom to call the principal tonight, they need to do something-"

Kevin turned his head and gave her the most ill-natured glare anyone could ever have brought upon themselves, because it made both her and Jonny gasp and jump backwards. "You won't tell anyone about this. Got it?" he articulated with a low voice.

Nazz's eyes watered. Kevin just kept staring at her until he saw the first tear run down her cheek before he turned around again and continued the walk home.

The door was locked when he came to the house, _good; nobody's home to pretend to care about me_ , he thought, opened the door and was met by a dark hallway. The most blessing sound from paws and claws clicking on the floor came closer to him in the hallway and he automatically sat down to greet the happy white little bull terrier.

"Honey…" Kevin groaned and let the puppy lick the tears off his face.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

 **.**

 **Eddward**  
All teachers had now heard the news of Kevin Barr beating Eddward Vincent up during the short period between classes, and even though they didn't believe it, they prepared for a meeting with him and Eddward. Nonetheless; Edd had made sure to spread the word that Kevin hadn't done it on purpose, he told his closest friends; including Nazz; to tell the teachers that they had just been horsing around and that he didn't punch Edd to cause pain.

Though Edd was the smartest kid in school and somewhat of a genius, knowing Kevin was the teachers' pet he had to make this lie up, and the teachers swallowed it.

"Are you crazy? This is our golden opportunity to get him into trouble!" Eddy wheezed.

"Yeah, we can get him expelled or something." Said Ed.

"Why are you doing this?" cried Eddy. "Did he cause you to get a concussion?"

"No…" said Edd and scratched his head underneath his ski hat. "It's better this way, trust me."

"But why, Double D?" Nazz asked him, watching Mr. Threadens; the math teacher; walk away from them in the hallway after they had told him the lie that would clear Kevin's name.

"I just don't want everybody to think… less of me." Edd mumbled.

The truth was that he thought that Kevin had much more to lose than he did; his reputation, his team, his football career after school and the only reason for him to keep his grades up; his charming way that had melted all the teachers' hearts. That was why the adults didn't believe the kids that had told them the news of Kevin beating Edd up by the lockers; they could never dream of the idea of the school's most personable student to be a fighter… not since the accident a few years back.

The teachers only knew the person that Kevin pretended to be; the warm hearted and kind football Captain that did his outmost to train his team to win for their school; the laboring soul that never got a hang on his school work, but with one smile and a few cute promises got away with not having to do actual work and was given good grades anyway; the happy go lucky young man that was swarmed by his friends, and girls that wanted to date him, but he wasn't even going to be the _slightest_ tempted by girls until he finishes school.

Yeah… Kevin was the King, alright – even the teachers did his bidding.

Whenever the adults turned their backs, though, something changed dramatically. It was like this ominous, dark cloud hovered over the school and Kevin would drop the act and show his school mates his real self. Wherever he walked in the hallways; instead of cheering, silence fell upon him; all the people cowered from his presence and nobody dared utter the smallest noise when he was within ear shot. But he had the hearing of a prairie dog and the eye sight of a duck hawk; that was why he had hit Edd in his face earlier today; he had heard or seen something that the King of Peach Creek High didn't agree on.

Edd pretended to be embarrassed over the fact that he had been punched rather than telling his friends that he felt sorry for Kevin; because if _that_ came out to the wrong ears and reached the subject of his pity; then that would _definitely_ end in a murder.

 **...**

His parents weren't home, as usual, when he opened the door, so Edd wouldn't have to explain his injury right away; and if he was lucky enough they wouldn't come home until he was secure in his bedroom. He told his friends that he wanted to study today and go to bed early; considering it was their last few weeks before the summer break. He did his usual chores after coming home from school as were; taking the trash out, doing his homework and making himself a meal. Due to his parents almost never being home Eddward had improved his cooking skills and didn't miss his mother's cooking anymore. Well, almost, at least.

Later that night when all the chores were done, homework done and his belly full and satisfied, Edd changed into his black onsie and crawled under the cowers in his bed. Both being doctors; his parents had called to tell Eddward that they weren't coming home until late afternoon the _next_ day; they were really being needed at the hospital tonight. His father was the one who'd made the call since his mother had forgotten her cellular phone at home; so if Edd wanted anything, he had to call his father.

Falling into a deep slumber Edd was anything but prepared on the sudden sound of the doorbell in the middle of the night. He sat up, glanced over at the alarm clock on his side table and tried really hard to make out the time in his drowsy state. The green digits indicated on that it was four minutes past twelve a.m., and he jerked in his bed as he heard knockings on the door downstairs.

"Oh, dear, who could that be?" Edd whispered to himself, but he was solemnly convinced that it was Ed and Eddy.

They'd been over to his house several times before in the middle of the night knowing Mr. Vincent; Double D's father; had his own little supply of beer bottles in the basement, and that he never ever seemed to keep track on how many he had and always brought home more. He wasn't a drunk or anything, he just enjoyed having a bottle after a long day at the hospital and was always too tired to notice as small things as how many beer bottles he kept in his fridge in the basement.

Edd walked down the stairs and looked through the small window in the door, and he froze stuck as he established who the person outside his house was. It wasn't Ed and Eddy.

"Yo, Double dweeb, open the door." Kevin said through the door while banging on it with his big fist. He didn't sound angry, only intoxicated, but hadn't noticed the younger teen in the window. "I know you're in there; I saw the lights turn on."

Edd slowly opened the door ajar and peeked out on the clearly wasted teen that swung from side to side. The only thing holding him up was the wall next to the door that he was leaning on with one hand. "Kevin? D-Do you know what time it is?"

"It's night o'clock, Sockhead, I'm not stupid. Move." Edd bounced back to let Kevin through, into his hallway uninvited, and quickly closed the door behind him. Kevin staggered all the way to the living room where he fell down on the couch, face first into the pillow. "Nice jammies, by the way."

Edd blushed, didn't know what to answer. "Uhm, Kevin?" Edd asked carefully when it had been quiet for almost half a minute. "Are you sleeping?"

"Yeah." Kevin breathed, slurping the saliva that had escaped his mouth and Edd felt shivers down his spine as he put to memory to clean that pillow in the morning. "I'm crashing here tonight. Got it, dork?" his muffled voice came from the wet pillow.

"O-okay. Sure, Kevin…"

 **Kevin**  
 _A few hours earlier_  
He watched the TV, coke in one hand and absently petting the dog in his lap with the other. It was dark in the living room; rain pouring down outside and the only source of light was the flickering TV. There wasn't really anything good on any channel, Kevin just wanted to sit there in the dark, consoling his dog.

A car was heard turning onto the driveway, garage door opening and closing and the engine shutting down inside the dry garage. The door to the garage opened and Kevin's mother shouted from the kitchen. "I think I heard thunder!" Honey, the little white Bull terrier, was alarmed by the door opening and ran to greet the newcomer. "Hi, Honey!" his mother squeaked.

With a growing lump in his stomach Kevin noticed that the little dog had a limp on one of her hind legs and he looked away before thinking of it any further.

"She's a bit low today…" Kevin's mother mumbled and looked patronizing at him when she walked into the living room from the kitchen, as if she was feeling sorry for her son. Kevin's four and a half year old baby brother, Calvin, came into the living room after their mother and ran up the stairs to his bedroom on the second floor.

"Mhm…" Kevin mumbled, still staring at the TV without seeing it anymore. All he wanted was that she would just shut up about it already.

"Did she have one of those...?" it didn't seem like Mrs. Barr wanted to finish her sentence, but she still expected an answer.

"Yeah…"Kevin took a shaky breath. "… while nobody were home." He got that annoying feeling you get when you're on the verge of crying. That tingling and scathing feeling in your throat, nose and behind your eyes. "Her thigh muscles are sore."

Kevin didn't like this weak person that his dog and mother turned him into. They were the only two who knew the real person behind Kevin Barr; while his father (like all the teachers on Peach Creek High) thought of him as this angel, top grades student and confirmed football player.

"I noticed." His mother said, crouching down to pick the little pup up, kissing her all over her face. She let out a deep sigh. "Doctor Hess said-"

"I don't give a fuck about what Doctor Hess said!" Kevin exploded and stood up from the couch, movement causing the coke can to fall on the floor, splashing its sticky, sugary fluids everywhere. He stared his mother straight in the eye, daring her to say another stupid shit thing. But his mother stayed shocked; she didn't remember the last time her son had raised his voice on her.

Kevin aggressively heaved towards his wide eyed mother, yanked the little dog from her arms and stormed into his bedroom, leaving his devastated mother behind. Before losing all control Kevin calmed down just enough to gently put Honey down on his bed, considering her hind leg hurt. He began pacing back and forth in his room, trying to calm himself down. He didn't want to break his stuff; he didn't _like_ sabotaging his belongings or feel the pain in his fists.

He sat down on the bed, head in hands and fingers clawing his face. He breathed rapidly and his heart pounded inside his chest. He wasn't upset for one thing, but there were so many things going on in his life right now. The memory of the boy that he had punched today continually popped up and he thought of the reason as of why he had done it… Edd didn't know (of course he didn't know, why would he?), but Kevin still smacked the biggest nerd in school – the only person that would never be mean to anyone; a person who saw something good in everything and wouldn't even harm a fly.

Honey whimpered and Kevin stopped what he was doing to look at her. "What?" he asked her.

The little bull terrier limped her way over to him on the bed and put her nose on his arm, looking at him with her black, deep eyes and started licking his arm. Kevin petted her on her head with a trembling sigh.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

 _~*~Echoing memory. Voices only.~*~_

 _Doctor Hess:_ "So, we have the results. I'm sorry, Kevin… The seizures are due to a constitutional neurological brain damage."

 _Kevin:_ "What kind of brain damage?"

 _Dr. Hess:_ "It causes all her muscles to tense up and spasm for an unknown amount of time, depending on how bad the seizure is. Honey is epileptic."

 _Kevin:_ "Is there anything that can cure her?"

 _Dr. Hess:_ "I am sorry to tell you this, Kevin… but with time… it will only get worse. The most humane thing to do is to-"

 _Kevin:_ "Please… don't say it. She is seven months old. She's only a puppy."

 _Dr. Hess:_ "There _is_ something we can do to… ease off… to extend Honey's life with a few years. She will live an almost normal life."

 _Mrs. Barr:_ "Almost? Are we talking about anti-retroviral treatment?"

 _Dr. Hess:_ "Well, yes and no… Not really. But we can make it easier for her. But that will only give us about two years, four tops. She will still have seizures occasionally-"

 _Kevin:_ "Just do whatever you can, doc."

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

He didn't let anybody into his room the rest of the night. Kevin laid on the bed, on his back, with Honey on top of his chest, hind legs stretched backwards on his belly. She'd finally stopped whimpering out of pain and was now sleeping deeply, and Kevin caressed her long, wide, hard nasal bone and the spot between her eyes with his finger.

Kevin had been downing the bottle of vodka he had had on the top of his shelf, trying to drown what was forcing itself up his throat, and now he couldn't stop listening to his dog's cute little snoring. Her big, pointy bunny ears in a relaxed position on the top of her head.

Kevin didn't think straight when he stood up, put the sleeping dog on his pillow and covered her body and half her head with a blanket and jumped out the window still with the bottle in his hand. It had finally stopped raining and the asphalt was dark and wet. He teetered across the Cul-de-sac and stopped outside his neighbor's door. Before he rang the doorbell he emptied the bottle of vodka and leaned against the wall for support. Everything was spinning around him.

He didn't really know what he was planning on; all he knew was that he wanted to talk to someone even though he didn't have anyone to talk to. But he remembered the talk he had had earlier today in that locker room, and the person he had had it with.

Light streamed out from the small window in the door and lit up a strand on the driveway. He started banging it. "Yo, Double Dweeb, open the door."

 **Eddward**  
"Are you just standing there watching me?" Kevin mumbled from the couch, eyes closed and breathing heavily.

"Err… Yeah, sorry, Kevin. Do you want a blanket or some kind of beverage?" Edd asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

Peach Creek High's biggest bully was currently lying on Edd's couch, with all his clothes on and big dirty sneakers, drooling all over his mother's pillows. His big, muscular body all relaxed, lying on his front making his left arm to stand up in a weird position because of the couch's backboard.

"You have beer?"

"I think that you'd probably had too much to drink already. I was thinking of a glass of water or orange juice… or maybe even coffee."

"I knew you'd be a dork about it… Okay, loser, give me water, then."

Edd hurried to the kitchen and filled a glass with water before running back to put it on the coffee table with shaky hands (but first he made sure to take one of the coasters out from under the coffee table). He backed away, as if he had put a piece of meat close to a badgers den and then backing up to wait for the badger to eat it. But nothing happened. Kevin didn't move and Edd found himself standing and quietly watching him again.

He loudly cleared his throat. "Ahem! Your water."

"What? Oh, yeah, thanks…" Kevin sat up, took the glass of water and downed it in one gulp. He slammed the glass to the table again, and to Edd's horror; one drop flying across it and landing on the clean surface.

Edd cleared his throat again. "Uhm… Not that I don't like having you here; my mother raised me to always be polite and to take care of my guests but… is there a reason for you to be here?"

"Why?" Kevin asked in a challenging tone on his voice, eyes not focusing on anything particular.

"No, never mind. Welcome to my home." Edd said, waving his hands in front of him.

"Thanks." Kevin looked at Edd, unfocused, leaning forward a bit. "Whoa, that black eye's gonna look nasty tomorrow."

"Yeah… I guess." Edd chuckled nervously; all he wanted was to go to bed and _not_ have this drunk, dirty person on his couch. Edd mentally thanked the hospital for wanting to hold his parents on a call tonight. "So… a blanket? Another glass of water?"

Kevin grabbed his red baseball cap on his head, combed his short ginger hair backwards and put the cap back on again. He leaned back into the couch with a serious expression on his face, staring straight forward. "Honey is not gonna survive this time." He said in a dark voice.

"Oh, dear…" Edd whispered. He knew that Honey was the name of Kevin's white bull terrier and he knew that she was suffering from epileptic spasms. He also knew that she was just getting worse and that the family soon was going to be forced to put the poor animal to sleep.

He knew all of this because of his mother being best friends with Kathleen, or Mrs. Barr as Edd called her. Mrs. Barr often came over for a cup of coffee in the mornings before Edd left for school, and her and Edd's mother often talked about the family dog that was the most wonderful dog in the world and who soon would be in so much pain that they weren't going to have a choice anymore. Knowing Edd's mother was a doctor; Mrs. Barr thought that she (Edd's mother) could maybe give some good advice about the disease.

Mrs. Barr usually became tearful whenever she mentioned her son and the bond he had to Honey. That he was going to be devastated once she was gone, and Mrs. Barr didn't know what she would do to help him whenever that day comes. She often said that Honey was Kevin's only friend in this world…

Something dawned on Edd… He finally understood why Kevin had broken their four years of silence and punched him in the face! Edd had just heard the latest news from Mrs. Barr during a cup of coffee with his mother that morning, and remembered the conversation in school where he mentioned it to Ed and Eddy. All he had said was that he thought that Kevin maybe needed someone to talk to about his dog when he all of a sudden slammed into the lockers with a shooting pain in his eye. He remembered now!

And he understood… Kevin doesn't like being pitied. That would explain his sudden temper in the locker room earlier today.

Edd took a breath to say ' _I am sorry_ ', but he changed his mind. "That sucks. She's a really cute dog."

" _Cute_." Kevin snarled. "She's the cutest damn dog in the world. Pink nose, beautiful black eyes and with fur so white you can see her pink skin in just the right light. Yeah, she would beat any dog at any dog show any day. Fucking stupid little cone-faced dog…" he mumbled.

But before Edd could say anything else, Kevin leaned forward, putting all his weight on his elbows resting on his knees, burying his face in his hands. He let out a raspy sob and Edd shivered from the sight. He had never seen anything like this; a huge football player breaking down in tears as if it was the end of the world (on _his_ couch!).

Edd felt more than empathetic even though he had promised himself not to show it to Kevin, but he sat down next to him on the couch anyways and put a comforting hand on his back. To Edd's surprise the older teen turned his whole upper body ninety degrees, throwing his football-player-tackling-arms around the skinny teen's neck, almost overwhelming Edd with his weight. Edd didn't know what to do but to keep patting Kevin's back with wide eyes, expecting to be punched again any moment.

But Kevin didn't hit Edd again. All he did was sobbing for a few minutes, wiping his tears off his face with the sleeve on his green school jacket and then declining back into the couch, head on the pillow and immediately falling asleep with a deep snore.

Edd ran upstairs and pulled a big blanket from the linen closet and covered Kevin's big body with it. The teen was so tall that his calves and feet didn't fit in the couch, but Edd thought that he was in a deep enough sleep not to mind.

Edd began dreading if Kevin was going to wake up in the middle of the night, have a look around and start trashing the house once he figured out where he was. Edd shook his head; Kevin surely behaved primitively sometimes, but he wasn't an ape. Kevin snored again and Edd looked at him, seeing the drool drip off the pillow and down on the carpet by the couch.

Edd shuddered. "That is so unsanitary…" he groaned, ran to the kitchen for paper towels and the trash can under the sink and then jogged back to the sleeping Kevin. First he put the paper towel on the carpet where the saliva had landed, "Oh, filthy, filthy…", and then put the trash can on top of it; in case Kevin was going to feel sick during the night.

Now all Edd could do was to go to bed and hope that it wasn't going to be too much to clean up in the morning.


	3. Dear diary

**Reviews:**  
 **anonymous** **girl** **:** Yes, I am sorry that it took me so long to upload this chapter. I have been really busy these past couple of months. I'm still busy but will try and upload whenever I have time!  
Thank you "guest" and **SvartaAnkan** for the reviews! I, too, love drunk Kevin; he's just so… honest? And yes; I feel with him about his dog :/ She seems really sweet! Fun fact about the dog; it's loosely based on a true story (my story).  
Thank you SvartaAnkan for telling me that I should take it easy with this story : ) I get what you mean and I shouldn't rush through it! It won't be good by the end if I do.  
Thank you **Scarlet Reflection** for your review! It really warms my heart whenever I see that someone has commented! ^^

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* * *

 **Dear diary**

 **Kevin**

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Thanksgiving was just around the corner, which meant a few days of break from school, and the trees around the Cul-de-sac were painted in the colors of autumn. Fourteen year old Kevin was taking Honey for a walk in the early morning. The sun was just about to rise over the rooftops of the houses when Kevin pushed a plank in the paling behind the house where his old friend Nazz and her dad lived. He knew that this particular plank was loose; he'd been crawling through that fence several times before.

Just as they entered the big abandoned wheat field in the outskirts of Peach Creek; Honey began to squirm impatiently in her leash, whimpering as she looked over the tall brown grass, and if she had been tall enough; at the forest in the horizon.

"Calm down, you little monster." Said Kevin quietly, checked the field for any other dogs, people or animals around. It wasn't the other dog or person he worried about; but he worried about the little dog next to him; the sweetest dog in the world who always found new friends in everyone. She was only five months old and could get hurt if a bigger dog wanted to play with her… or worse. "Okay, Honey, behave now."

Kevin clipped the leash off the collar and the little dog darted across the field as if she was trying to win a racing competition. He couldn't see her anymore, but he could hear her run along the field, could see the trails in the tall grass as it gave way for her little body. She literally flew over the ground, running like a free dog. And as always, every time Honey got over excited, she whimpered as she had lost the way she came from and didn't know where Kevin was.

"I'm here, cone-face!" Kevin chuckled; and two seconds later she slammed into his legs like a cannon ball. "You're such a little weirdo." He crouched down to scratch her and she happily jumped around like the little bundle of energy she was.

Kevin stood up when Honey calmed down enough not to freak out again and they walked across the field together and entered the woods at the end of it. The sun painted the forest floor orange and yellow and made thin pale green streams through the leaves above their heads. Kevin tilted his head upwards and closed his eyes; Honey strutted next to him, sniffing the roots and rocks along the path. They didn't have a rout or anything, they just walked, until they got bored of it and found their way home again.

Usually they got lost in the woods, but Kevin and Honey had been in here so many times these past couple of weeks that they already knew almost half of it. Kevin knew that if they took left here they were going to reach the trailer park where the Kanker sisters lived; and a few more yards beyond the trailer park would take them to the junkyard; if they took a right they would come to the swimming hole and a little further would take them to… Hm, Kevin had never been there. And straight forward was the big city.

Kevin made a halt. Honey stopped as well and looked up on her owner; wanting to know what he was thinking about and why he so abruptly had stopped. "Come on, Honey." He said and turned around. "Let's go home."

They had left the house six in the morning and were home again around eight a.m., and the smell of breakfast welcomed them back to the Cul-de-sac. Inside the house, in the kitchen, Kevin's mother fried bacon in the pan over the stove and Calvin; Kevin's one and a half year old baby brother; sat by the table and ate his oatmeal.

"Good morning." Kevin told his mother when entering the kitchen and sitting down by the table; Honey headed for her water bowl.

"Good morning, honey. And good morning, _Honey_." She joked.

"Good morning, pipsqueak." Kevin rubbed Calvin's dark red head. "Did you sleep well? Yeah, I bet. Having all those stuffed animals and cozy pillows."

Calvin tried to say something but his words didn't really come through. He was kind of a… late bloomer and didn't really talk yet. All he could say was the usual base words as; mama, dada, doggy, there, look and Kev. But that didn't stop him from trying and finally said: "Look, Kev." And showed Kevin his spoon.

"Nice spoon, squirt." Kevin mumbled before he yawned.

Now, in the silence and calmness the mornings usually brought; he somehow came to think about his stupid new school again and the three guys that made his life a living hell. He'd promised himself to step up more; and what was better than make himself stronger? Kevin had been in fist fights before; but that was only because Eddy Sampson next door tended to go on Kevin's nerves… They always seemed to cross each other's paths…

After breakfast Kevin decided to start a new chapter of his life; he was going to dedicate every day to working out, make himself bigger and stronger, and one day he will kick those bullies' asses!

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Seventeen year old Kevin slowly opened his eyes and tried to remember where he was and _who_ he was, and finally figured out that the reason he woke up was because he was extremely thirsty. _Yeah, right, I drank that vodka yesterday_ … _I think_ , Kevin thought and sat up. He wiped his face with his hand as it had been wet. _Nice; drool_ …

Something felt wrong once Kevin's eye sight finally focused on the black objects in the dark room… Everything was different; where in the world is he?

He turned around and noticed the back board of a couch. So he had slept on a couch tonight? But where, though? Whose house is this and why did Kevin sleep here? He stood up and walked over to the wall with some framed photos on it and looked at the people in them.

Sweat started to run down his face. "No. Fucking. Way." He groaned as he spotted Eddward Vincent in all of the framed pictures together with his parents and other family members. "Holy… nooooo…"

He put both his hands over his mouth, stopping himself from making a sound of surprise and looked for the exit, but as he backed up from the wall with the pictures he stumbled over something. A fucking trashcan? Really? The trash can made the loudest bang as it fell to the floor and Kevin quickly got his balance back and ran for the door, opened it and exited the house.

It was still night out; or really early morning since the horizon had this golden line that separated the sky from the pavement. Kevin ran across the Cul-de-sac and opened his bedroom window wider that he had left opened a few hours ago, crawled through it, and as he shut the window he finally breathed again; he noticed that he had held his breath all the way from Double D's living room.

"I should really not drink that much again…" Kevin mumbled and sat down on the bed; and only a few seconds later he fell back into his pillow and began drooling once again.

 **Eddward**  
That very next morning, Eddward woke up from a dreamless sleep and slowly got out of bed. Late last night his _exotic_ neighbor had been visiting, and now he wasn't sure what to do. Should he make breakfast for Kevin, or should he try to sneak out and hope that he wouldn't bother him in school the same day?

Edd decided to take a long shower before deciding anything of importance, and walked to the upstairs bathroom. He was prepared for the sight in the mirror and couldn't but agree to what Kevin had said the night before; this black eye really looked nasty today. It was truly black and swollen… how could he manage to show himself in school?

After a quick shower, Edd slowly put his clothes on, packed his bag with the learning books he was going to use today, and walked down the stairs. He walked so slowly that he couldn't hear the steps creek, and once he was in eye sight of the living room he crouched down in the stairs to peak through the railings. The couch, where he'd left drunk Kevin Barr last night, stood empty. Edd puffed, walked the last steps down the stairs and checked the front door which he had locked last night. It was unlocked; so Kevin had already left the house.

It only took him about five minutes to clean the mess in the living room, put the pillows and the blanket in the washing machine and scrub the floor next to the couch.

"Sparkling." Edd said, and gave himself a mental high five before making breakfast and a lunchbox for school.

…

It took him about an hour to get ready for school, so all he had to do now was to get to the bus stop and say good morning to his school mates. Usually the Eds had to cross the Cul-de-sac if they wanted to knock on each other's doors before going together; so the most fair would be to just meet up at the bus stop instead of fighting over who needed to walk the longest distance.

Edd locked his door and turned around to walk, but something made him glance across the Cul-de-sac and he spotted his sleep over guest by his house. Kevin Barr stood by his motorcycle on his driveway, just on his way to put his helmet on, when he heard Edd's door open and glared over at him as well. For a second they just stared at each other, but Edd quickly looked down and hurried to the bus stop.

His heart was racing while he walked the short distance between his house and the bus stop, and just as he curved around the bushes to see his friends, a loud roar was heard around the neighborhood and a shiny black and red motorcycle drove up to him and slid in front of him to make him to stop. Kevin took his helmet off to stare at Edd and it felt like his heart was in his throat.

"Hey!" they heard Eddy shout from the bus stop. "Leave him alone!" he and Ed started sprinting towards them, thinking Edd was in danger.

Kevin didn't care about them but kept staring at Edd. He said in a low and dark voice: "You won't tell anybody about last night. Got that, dork?"

"Double D!" Ed shouted.

"If you so much as lay one finger on him..!" Eddy yelled, both him and Ed coming closer to Edd and Kevin.

Edd didn't find the courage to say anything, so he just nodded.

"Good. And if I hear _anyone_ talk about it, ever, then you're dead. You're dead, Double D." the seriousness in his voice made Edd's legs feel like spaghetti.

Kevin put his helmet on again, twisted the throttle and drove off.

"Double D!" Ed shouted and slammed into him, picking him up and hugging him tight. "I thought that he was going to kill you! I was so worried about you!"

"Too tight, Ed!" Edd wheezed and Ed dropped him on the sidewalk. "Remember when I told you that you need to try and control yourself? You're stronger than you think. Geez, Ed…" he mumbled and rubbed his sides.

"Double D!" Now it was Eddy's turn to throw his arms around the skinny teen's body. Once again Eddward's lungs were forcefully deflated, but Eddy let him go much quicker than what Ed had done. "What did he say? What did he do to you?"

"Nothing…" Edd whispered as he tried to catch his breath. Having friends _this_ overprotecting wasn't good for him. "He just sort of… stared at me."

"Didn't he say anything to you?"

"No."

Eddy looked skeptic but didn't nag him anymore about it.

"Hey, guys. Why are you standing here?" Nazz, who just came around the bushes, said. She smiled at first but then looked suspicious. "I heard that Kevin's motorcycle stopped behind the bushes and then drove off. Did he give you a rough time again, Double D?"

Oh, why did everyone talk so loudly about it? Even though Edd knew that his friends only meant well, he didn't want them to talk to him like he was a defenseless little child. Yes, he was a little scared of the big bully, but why couldn't they be at least a little discreet?

"I'm fine!" Edd said, a little grumpily, turned around and started walking towards the bus stop. He didn't see it, but he knew that his friends shrugged their shoulders behind him; not knowing that he was about to have had enough.

…

He was quiet the entire bus ride sitting next to Eddy, who sort of just talked to Ed and Nazz. He felt a little bit grateful that they had stopped talking about him and Kevin, and Sarah and Jimmy sat in the back of the bus, oblivious to what had happened this morning. And all his friends were oblivious to what had happened last night… why couldn't Edd tell anybody about it? He could at least tell Eddy, but he knew that he was just going to make everything much worse if he did. Kevin was kind of unpredictable… would he really kill Edd if he told Eddy that he had spent the night at his house?

Edd shivered just imagining what would happen if he did.

After arriving at school; some of the teachers told Eddward that they had talked to Kevin this morning who in turn had sworn that he and Edd had sorted everything out already. Still the principal wanted to see them both in his office after school, and Eddward did his best not to say too much.

Students constantly noted his black eye in the corridors and just wouldn't leave him alone! He didn't know how much he could handle before accidentally tell anyone that he couldn't tell anyone anything if he wanted to stay alive!

He did what he did best and sneaked into a secret corridor only the janitors used. It was a little darker in these parts of the school but at least he was far away from curious eyes. Edd was usually afraid of these corridors, and they smelled of old dust and… just old. He stopped in the middle of one of the corridors leading to the school cafeteria one way and to the locker rooms the other, because he had heard something behind him.

Sure enough; five huge shadows stood at the end leading to the locker room, staring at him from afar. They had all green football jackets on, paralyzed seeing a student that had never used this corridor system before, and chuckled.

"Well, who have we here?" one of them asked. They all got closer to him.

Edd didn't know what to do, but now he finally remembered why nobody walked here anymore… these were jock territories. He blamed his nosy schoolmates for forcing him in here…

"Isn't that the guy Kevin beat up yesterday?" a guy with dark brown hair and brown eyes looked at his team mates with a jeer.

"Yeah! That's Beefhead's little buddy; the poindexter" Said a blonde, tall guy.

Eddward knew that ' _Beefhead'_ was his friend Ed, who also was the Center of the football team. Ed wasn't really friends with anyone in the team, but they needed him because of his unnatural strength; and Ed needed to secure his future somehow… so Edd and Eddy had helped him to get into the school's football team even though they were already persuaded after the tryouts.

"Say, is that your backpack?" the first one, with long brown hair, asked and pointed at Edd's backpack, which was hanging on his back. But without waiting for an answer he reached for the straps, slid Edd's arms out of them and pulled it off his back.

"Don't!" Edd said, tried to hold on to the backpack but dropped it as the footballer yanked it from his grip. "Give that back, please!" he said angrily.

"Relax." The long haired guy opened the backpack and began to mess around in it.

"Stop that!"

The blonde guy held his arm out so that Edd couldn't reach the backpack that the long haired guy was checking through, and he finally took a small black book out of the pack. "What is this? This is not a schoolbook, is it?" he said, turned it around to look at it from different angles and then tossed it to one of his team mates.

"Please, don't!"

"It's important, isn't it?" the long haired guy took it again… and opened it. He started to read from the middle of one of the pages. "'… my mother said that she was going to the neighbors, but I actually think that she… later than what… my father...'- Oh, well, well, _well_! I think that this is in fact a diary! Hey, guys, we've found a diary writer over here!"

"What are you? Gay?" asked a guy with crew cut black hair.

"Just give it back!" Edd started to panic; he couldn't let them read that book! He had been writing his inner most thoughts in it – not even Ed and Eddy knew of it! "Please!" if they read the last page he had written this morning then they would find out that- he just couldn't let them read!

Edd did something that he thought that he would never have the courage to do in his lifetime; he stomped on the blonde guy's foot and threw himself at the long haired guy who held his little black book in a firm grip between his hands. They fought over the journal for a few seconds before the blonde guy grabbed Edd from the back and held him tight around his shoulders and arms so that he couldn't move.

"Wow, this is really juicy…" Edd's heart dropped when he saw that the long haired guy had turned to the page he had written this morning before taking a shower. "Guys, listen to this: ' _I don't hate Kevin for giving me this nasty black eye, and if it hadn't been for him being so painfully handsome, then maybe I wouldn't have forgiven him this easily. I wish that I could stand my ground against him, but in my heart I just know that I never will; because I don't want to_.' Do you know what this means?" he looked up with a shocked expression on his face. "You're in love with the Greyhound, eh? Well isn't that just _adorable_?"

"No…" Edd whispered and felt his eyes watering.

He had never been this embarrassed his entire life and- what would happen now!? How- how would Kevin react? His friends? He would never be able to show his face on this school again! Well, that didn't matter anymore because once Kevin heard about this he would kill Edd either way! Why, oh, why did he write that in his journal? Why did he put it in his backpack and not behind the atlas books in his book shelf as he uses to? No one ever looks behind atlases… He'd been really confused this morning so he didn't think about his shameful journal and that he had just put it on the pile of school books on his desktop…

Why today?

"Holy shit! We need to tell Barr!" the blonde guy had a rugged laugh.

"He's gonna freak out!" laughed the long haired guy.

"And he will demolish your entire face this time, diary boy!" said one of the guys who hadn't said anything since they ran in to each other in this corridor.

The door to the locker rooms' hallways opened, the door behind the group of footballers, and light streamed into the corridor. In the doorway stood no other than…

Kevin Barr. Who else?

Edd's heart was pounding so hard against his ribs that it felt like it was going to tear him apart. He was going to pass out soon, he just knew that, and Kevin was going to have his way with him without him even knowing it. Was Eddward ever going to wake up again?

 **Kevin**  
Aimlessly roaming the corridors in the morning, just before all the classes started, was something that Kevin usually did whenever he arrived to school. This particular morning was not an exception, but soon he grew pensive about his team mates' whereabouts. He shrugged; knowing they were in the janitors' corridors per usual, and steered his steps to them. The locker rooms were in sight just as he heard them messing around with each other behind the door leading to the janitors' corridor system.

" _He's gonna freak out!"_ Cody Byrd said.

" _And he will demolish your entire face this time, diary boy!"_ said Seth Jefferson.

Great; they were interrogating someone and wanted Kevin to be the one to punish him. While walking towards their voices he thought of what Seth had said; " _And he will demolish your entire face this time_." _This_ time. Apparently Kevin had already had his way with his team mates' hostage; and it sounded like the kid had done something to anger him again. Kevin smiled to himself; he loved being feared.

" _Hey, guys, looks like we don't need Greyhound for this; he is already hitting himself!_ " they all laughed. " _Why are you hitting yourself, dork?_ "

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Why are you hitting yourself? Huh, tough guy!"

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Kevin's neck made an involuntary spasm to the side and his left eye twitched.

He stopped, shook his head to shake the unwelcome memory out of his brain and opened the door to the corridor, and just as he laid his eyes on the victim this morning, he stopped dead in his tracks. _Not this guy again_ …

He knew that he had to think fast; he couldn't risk anybody to know anything about last night, so he checked through the scene quickly and then snapped with his fingers. "Book." He told Cody and reached for it, knowing it didn't belong to the team. Byrd handed it to him with a sinister smile on his face, and Kevin snapped his fingers again. "Leave us." But before the door closed behind him he warned his ' _friends'_ : "Don't talk. Don't listen."

Kevin turned to Eddward Vincent and then looked down on the book.

"Kevin, please don't read that!" Edd shouted with a voice so shaky it sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

"What does it say?" Kevin asked, feeling the blood starting to boil inside him. He knew that his team mates didn't dare to eavesdrop on them, so there was no risk that they were standing outside.

"It says… it… Please, it's private."

"Did they read it?"

Edd nodded, looking down on the floor.

"You better tell me, otherwise they will. And I will not appreciate your incapacity."

"Just… please…" that was the cue for Eddward's tears to fall. "You'd kill me…" he whispered hopelessly.

"You have no idea what you have done, Vincent." Kevin said through clenched teeth. "Those hyenas will stop at nothing… they love watching me beat people up; and if they see me spare your skinny ass; they will start to talk. What did it say?" Edd stood silent, shaking. "Then I'll read it myself." He opened the book-

"No!" Edd threw himself at Kevin, slamming into his torso, with a firm grip around the small, black book with his long, thin fingers.

They just stood like that for what felt like an eternity; both hugging the book between them, with their arms tangled and their bodies tight together. Kevin just looked straight forward over the younger teen's head, and Edd pulled the book closer to his chest, pulling Kevin closer to him as well. Kevin felt Edd's heart pounding against his fingers that were squished between Edd's chest and the book.

Kevin's heart was racing as well; he had never seen anything like this before. No one had ever sacrificed themselves like this; everyone on this school should know that if they argue against the Greyhound; they would certainly be digging their own graves.

"E-Edd…" Kevin mumbled, his chin almost touching the younger teen's ski hat. "Let go of the book."

"No!" Edd mumbled back, with lowered head and eyes closed shut. His forehead was touching Kevin's key bone.

For the first time in years, Kevin let go first, and slowly backed away to look at the younger teen who was still holding the book tight against his body with closed eyes. He just couldn't believe it; he had lost against the school's biggest nerd; just because of the nerd's stubbornness not to let Kevin know what he had written in that god forsaken book.

"What's wrong with you, man?" he asked calmly.

Eddward jerked as he wasn't prepared that Kevin talked to him instead of punching him. He looked up, and then he fell down on his knees, still with the book in a tight grip in his arms. "I couldn't let you read it." He said.

Kevin didn't know what to say. What was so special about that diary? What was the big secret that he didn't know, but his team mates did? And why did they think that, after reading the diary, Kevin would want to demolish Edd's face?

Edd's eyes widened when he watched Kevin walk towards him. He reached out his hand. "Give me it." Edd slowly shook his head. "Just do it." Kevin demanded.

A tear left Edd's eye as he handed his beloved journal to the bully, and shivered from the sound of ripping. He looked up again just as Kevin tossed him the naked journal, but still held the black binder. He had ripped the pages from their binder.

"I will never hear about this. Got it? If anyone asks; I made you read, and then I punched you in the stomach and left with the book. They can't possibly ask to see the evidence since being punched in the stomach usually won't leave any bruises."

Eddward slowly got up on his feet and just stared at the older teen. "Thank you, Kevin." He said with a surprised voice.

"Now; wait for a few minutes before you leave. They need to believe that I left you breathless, and it takes a few moments to recover."

Kevin turned to the door again and opened it; and what he didn't know was that students on this school didn't have to believe that Kevin had left Eddward breathless; because he did, and it _was_ going to take Edd some time to recover.

Kevin knew how to play this game; he spotted his team mates outside a class room door, but before he got close enough for them to see that he was holding an empty diary; he stopped by a trashcan, pulled his lighter out from his jeans pocket and put the binder over the flame. He set it on fire and threw it down the bin. His team mates laughed from the sight and Kevin left the bin and the burning binder, and headed towards them.

"Does anybody know?" he asked them, tried to look angrier than what he felt.

"No." Seth Jefferson said.

"Good. Now…" Kevin aggressively grabbed Cody Byrd by the front of his shirt and lifted him up. "If you; any of you; tell anyone about this; then I will fucking kill you all." Cody was hanging in the air with wide eyes; Kevin had never threatened his mates like this. "I swear to my life; I will seek you out, I will chase you down and I will literally rip the heart out of the cockroach who opens his big mouth about this. Am I fucking clear, or do I have to repeat myself?"

"C-crystal." Said Byrd with his feet dangling inches from the floor.

"We won't tell anybody, Greyhound." Wade Conley whispered behind him.

"We will take this with us in our graves." Said Mike Fulton.

All the others nodded and agreed.

"We swear." Said Byrd.

"Good." Kevin put Byrd down, pushed him and let go of his shirt. "Then we're cool again, pack! Let's start this fucking day already."

 **Eddward**  
A few moments of disbelief and confusion was what Eddward had to deal with before his legs finally felt solid enough to move. They were still a little jiggly, like overcooked pasta, and they managed to carry him two whole steps before folding, making him fall down on his knees again in front of his backpack. He quickly put the naked journal in his bag, but made sure that it was resting inside another book so that the pages wouldn't fold and get wrinkly. His whole body felt like Jell-O, his head like oatmeal and his legs like chopsticks. Even if he tried, he would never be able to simply walk out of here; he knew that he was going to stumble on his own feet – as usual – but this time it was a hundred times worse; because this time…

He still had Kevin Barr's scent stuck in his nostrils. His warm skin had been touching Edd's only a couple of minutes ago. He had finally seen a side of Kevin he _knew_ was there all along; he knew that Kevin wasn't all bad, he had never been. Hitting Edd in his face had been a slip up, and Edd knew that Kevin felt bad for doing so… how in the world could he carry on with this day now?

While blushing like crazy Edd stood up, put his backpack on his back, and walked out of the janitors' corridor just as the school bell rang. "Oh, dear…" he said as he jumped from the sudden sound, and started jogging down the corridor, away from the locker rooms, to his class.

…

Eddward felt insanely unfocused and nervous the first half of the class, which was Biology, but as he got to answer too many of the questions the teacher fired him, he slowly straightened out his thoughts again to try and concentrate on class.

"Good god, I thought we were going to have a problem." Said Eddy who was his lab partner, thus sitting next to him. Ed was sitting a few rows further down, and the only reason Edd was stuck with Eddy was because the teacher thought that Eddy was a handful; and the only person who seemed to know how to calm him down during class was Edd. Eddy continued in a whisper. "What is happening with you, dude?"

"Let's not talk about this during class, Eddy." Edd simply said.

"Yeah, okay." Eddy picked the heavy Biology book up from the table, lifted it and then placed it in front of them so that they were hidden from the teacher's desk. "Are you sure Kevin didn't say anything to you at the bus stop this morning? And where did you go once we arrived to school? I didn't see you until this class started."

"Eddy!" Edd wheezed; he was in absolutely no mood to discuss his emotions right now. "Like I said; he just stared at me. I think that he wanted to threaten me or something…" He sighed. "And I went to the toilet straight away. If you really need to know, I think that I accidentally put regular milk in my cereal this morning instead of soy." He lied; he did never do anything 'accidentally'.

"Whoa, way too much information, buddy."

"Well, you asked, thank you very much." Edd snapped.

"Okay, I'm sorry. So your insides are rebelling? That's it?"

"That's it." He felt grateful that his friend cared about him, but in the same time he just wanted to be left alone.

"Goodie, then." Eddy glanced at the black eye. "It's getting worse by the minute."

"I know… Maybe I should see the nurse after this class."

"Yeah, maybe you shou-"

"Do I hear whispering that has nothing to do with Biology?" the teacher; Mrs. Langley asked.

"Well, actually-" Eddy started, but Eddward elbowed him – this was exactly the reason why Eddy needed his friend next to him; he never knew when to shut up.

Mrs. Langley continued. "If not; I really do hope that you will think again before talking about anything but Biology in my class; or else you _will_ get a free ticket to the principal's office."

"Sorry, Mrs. Langley." Edd and Eddy said shamefacedly.

"Thank you for your honesty, boys. Now proceed with the class, shall we."

The friends looked at each other, and Edd knew that Eddy wasn't going to just let this go.

…

… and he had been so right.

"Got ya!"

"What?" Edd asked.

"I told you something's wrong!" Eddy said with great triumph. "You're trying to avoid someone; I can see your eyes going all over the place!"

"Eddy, _shhhh_!" Edd was beginning to get truly annoyed now. "Can you, please, lower your voice a little? I don't want-"

"You don't want Kevin to hear you? That's it, right?"

"Eddy!" They were passing a group of students in the corridor between classes, but luckily no one was either a football player or a cheerleader that could blab.

"Don't worry, Double D, I will protect you from scary Kevin!" Said Ed, picked Edd up from the floor and hugged him just as tight as he had done by the bus stop earlier this morning.

"' _Scary Kevin_ '; that's a good one, Mono brow! Hey, Ed, he's turning blue." Said Eddy and started tapping Ed's arm. "Hey, Blockhead! Let him go, yo!"

"I'm sorry, Double D." said Ed when he put Eddward down on the floor again.

Edd started rubbing his sides, and hyperventilated to get some oxygen into his lungs again. "You need to think, Ed." He wheezed. "You need to control yourself."

"I swear, I'm actually trying! Please, don't be mad at me."

"Of course I'm not mad at you, Ed."

"Well, isn't this sweet…" Eddy squeezed himself in between his friends and put his arms around their necks. Though Eddy was the significantly shortest one in the trio still; he had grew quiet a lot through the years and did now count as normal height, he only looked short around Ed and Edd. "Now, let's go to Victoria's class!"

"You should call her Ms. Rowel." Said Edd, he was forced to move forward underneath his pushy friend's arm.

"I can't call my own girlfriend by her last name. That's just insane. Right, Mono brow?"

"The English teacher is your girlfriend?" Ed asked, surprised.

"Of course she's not." Edd squirmed out of Eddy's smelly armpit to walk by himself closer to the lockers instead of in the middle of the corridor; students were coming from the other direction, and he didn't want to walk into any of them. "Relations between teachers and students are strictly forbidden; and Eddy knows that."

"Remember when she grabbed my ass last week? That says something else. She wants the D from the Eddy."

"She didn't grab your… buttocks." Edd whispered. "She accidentally graced your fingers when she handed you that dictionary."

"I don't care, she loves me."

"Hey, guys?" they both turned to Ed who was crouching behind them, staring at something in front of them with wide eyes. He pointed with a shaky finger, and they both turned around again.

The football team came walking through the corridor with Kevin Barr, or _Greyhound_ , in the lead; and they didn't seem to be noticing the Eds. Edd pressed his back against a door leading to a classroom, the lockers stood right next to it; concealing him a little from the team. Eddy and Ed followed him behind the lockers and they all peaked around the edge of them.

"Did they see us?" Eddy whispered, the football team stopped around twenty feet from them to look at the billboard outside the locker rooms to the indoors sports center.

" _Shall we sign up for that yoga class?_ " Kevin asked his friends with a mocking tone on his voice.

The others laughed, and they continued their walk through the school. The Eds quickly hid again, pressed their backs against the door and stopped breathing as the football team passed them. Edd could've sworn that Kevin glanced at him from the corner of his eye, but he couldn't be too sure. But during that split of a second he thought that he had made eye contact with the school bully, his knees weakened and his heart skipped a beat.

When the football team were gone, Edd and his friends exhaled, and could now breathe freely again without any of Greyhound's ' _dogs_ ' sniffing them out.

"No…" said Edd, to answer Eddy's question from before. "They didn't see us."

"You were afraid of Kevin too." Said Ed and pushed Eddy into the classroom door.

"Oh, yeah?! You were hiding too, so how is that being tough?!" Eddy snapped, and attacked his less intelligent friend.

 _And so it begins_ , Edd thought as he prepared to try and calm his two best friends down before someone got hurt.

* * *

 _Search for my tumblr where I upload my own "fan art":_ **jeelindberg**  
 _And my DeviantArt:_ **fEtthan**  
 _twitter_ : **limberjArt**

Thank you!


	4. Cheetah

**The thanks!** **  
**I want to thank I **nflorescence 17** , **shybizombie** , **Torikitteh13** **,** **Salistina** and **Guest** for the comments! I love that you like my story and I love seeing new comments from you guys!  
Then I'd like to thank **KaixRaylover** , **Haniister** , **IiiwiIIiams08** (I don't know if those are lower case L's or upper case I's!), **ar1992** , **Janessa Darkblade** , **kev3dd** , **Salistina** and **Roselleoffthewallflower** for favoriting!  
And thank you **Inflorescence 17** , **KaixRaylover** , **liiwilliams08** , **loka28** , **GuardianDemon62101** , **Lightonie, Cthepolkadots** , **Alexander the Mutt** , **yuki kitsune ruler of the worl** , **Rosefirestorm4** , **awkwardchicklizzy** , **kev3dd** , **FanishDanish** , **Salistina** , **Rawrgrrism** and **devoosha** for following!

Oboy, you were a lot this time! Lots of name to write down! Thank you all so much, you are the best ^^ Please, comment! Tell me what you like and what you dislike about this story!

* * *

 **Cheetah**

 **Kevin**  
Advanced Chemistry… That was the only class that Kevin took where he had absolutely no one to talk to. In fact, he didn't like the guys from his football team; but at least they were good for talking. But truthfully he liked these classes the most _because_ he didn't know anyone here; these were his quiet hours; the only two hours before lunch that he could just spend… in cheer silence. It was especially useful now as he had this really bad hangover… His seat was in the far back of the room, the neighboring table was empty, so he had a straight view out the window. All he could see were the pine trees, but behind them stood the football field and waited for him. Though it was a dark and grey morning, he was longing for school to end so that he could practice with his team before the endgame. They had been winning two years in a row now; every single year that Kevin had been the captain; and he was not going to break that streak now. Unfortunately the Principal, regardless of Kevin's pleading and begging this morning, had called him and that Edward Vincent up to his office for a meeting, so Kevin had to attend to that before he could start his practice. What a waste of time, really, but what could he do?

"Ahem."

Kevin slowly turned his head away from the windows as he at first didn't believe that someone was clearing her throat to get _his_ attention, and once he noticed who it was, his eyebrows dropped. "I forgot that you took this class, as well."

"Right… well, Emma was a total traitor and moved to another state last week so-"

Kevin put his finger in the air to shut Nazz up. "I'm working by myself _every_ day, and it's not that hard. You should try it."

"Now _you_ listen to me, asshole." Kevin rolled his eyes; he had heard that word so many times now that he almost didn't react hearing it anymore… Nazz put her hands on his table and leaned forward as she continued with a low but frustrated voice: "I don't like you either, but I sure as hell need a lab partner for this project. I tried to persuade Mr. Thatcher to let me work with Hannah and Lynne, but he refused as he'd noted that you were alone as well. I will not fail this class, so you better swallow that fake pride of yours and become my partner."

Kevin stood up from his chair so sudden that both chair and table almost fell to the ground; they had made a banging sound loud enough, though, to get the attention Kevin didn't want to begin with.

"Is there a problem back there?" Mr. Thatcher asked while trying to look around the group of students that stood in front of his desk, blocking the view over the class room; also them watching Kevin and Nazz in the back of the room.

Nazz just stared at Kevin with raised eyebrows. "Are you serious right now?" he asked her; surprised (and furious) that she didn't seem to budge. Wasn't anyone afraid of him anymore?

"Yes, I am dead serious." She whispered. "Now tell Mr. Thatcher that I will work with you or else I will destroy your reputation on this school."

"You wouldn't dare." Kevin snarled as his heart started pounding so hard inside his chest, it felt like it was trying to crawl its way up to his head.

"Ms. Fitzgerald, Mr. Barr? Can I count on the two of you?" Mr. Thatcher now stood up and looked directly at Kevin.

Kevin put on a wide smile, glanced at Nazz and then back at the teacher again. "Of course, Mr. Thatcher. Nathalie and I won't disappoint you."

"Super!" the teacher smiled back, then sat down by his desk to hand out the instruction papers to the students.

"You'll pay for this." Kevin muttered as he sat down on his chair again. Nazz was the first one ever to have argued with him like this, and all the students around realized that too. They all watched him, hungered for the fall of the great king, but quickly looked away when he glared back at them.

"I'll go get my stuff!" Nazz said joyfully, as if she didn't understand what was going on around her.

She fetched her bag and her books and sat down on the chair next to Kevin, closest to the wall. Kevin kept staring out the windows and watched the sky slowly get darker as the class went on. Then it started to rain.

…

"… so the reaction to the sulfate and the-"

"Oh, my gooood…" Kevin moaned only two minutes into her notes about chemistry. He was in such bad mood today, and had been seeing forward to this class because of the silence. He'd already promised himself not to drink that much again, but he couldn't do anything about it right now. "Just, shut-"

"-up? No, Kevin, _you_ shut up. We need to do-"

"What is your problem? Really? What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you. What I want is to pass this class before the finals in three weeks, and I will not let you ruin this for me. I need a partner for some of these exercises, but I will do some of them by myself. You see these-" she slammed a heavy book on the table in front of Kevin, making him jump and sit up straight. It looked like an extremely thick notebook. "- these exercises that I have highlighted with green; for them I need your help. And the pink ones are for me."

"What about those yellow ones?" Kevin asked and pointed at five sentences that were highlighted with a yellow marker.

"Those are extra points. Of course I need you for three of them as well, but… I guess that I can sacrifice those points…" she looked at the yellow sentences with sad eyes and hanging head.

Kevin glanced at her; he hadn't been this close to her in years, but the nostalgia hit him as he remembered that little wrinkle she got underneath her left eye whenever she got sad. "This class is really important for you. Isn't it?" he mumbled.

"Well, no… or… yeah." She chuckled. "Have you ever had that feeling that you want to be best at something? That you _need_ to be the best, and that your life wouldn't be fulfilled if you failed?" Kevin nodded with narrow eyes. "Well…" Nazz exhaled. "If I get straight A's in Chemistry this year, then I will be the first in my family to have aced every single class through High school. Everyone thinks that I'm so… dumb, you know? Because I'm blonde, and became a cheerleader almost immediately after setting foot on this school. Did you know that the cheerleading captain actually asked me to be in the squad because she thought that I was pretty? She hadn't even talked to me yet, let alone gotten to know me, and she asked me because of my appearance. Isn't _that_ humiliating then I don't know what is. But of course, I said yes; thinking that I would never do anything good on this school anyways… I could as well try to get popular, you know?"

Kevin sat quiet for a moment, but then he started to chuckle.

"Hey, come on, stop it." Nazz slapped his arm with the thick notebook. "I just told you my story here, and you're laughing?"

"Well, that is messed up and all…" Kevin kept chuckling. "But okay, you win, princess. You've had it worse. You are officially the biggest victim on this school."

"You're such a pig. Fucking asshole." Nazz sat straight in her chair again and tried to read the Chemistry book, still with Kevin's laughter mocking her. "I forgot that you've lost all sense of sympathy during your first year here. I guess _Cheetah_ did a great job with you; now you will always be the winner of this _victim competition_ that you think that this is, and the rest of us will be the losers."

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Why are you hitting yourself?" he laughed as he had fourteen year old Kevin in a firm grip around his neck with one arm, and holding his other hand which he made Kevin hit himself in his face with. "Huh, tough guy? Are you tired already?"

"No…" Kevin groaned. He knew that fighting back would only trigger the bully, so he let him do what he wanted.

"Oh, okay. I was actually a bit tired, but if you insist. Why are you hitting yourself?"

"Hey, Cheetah! Coach is coming!" a guy from the football team shouted through the empty corridor.

"You're lucky this time, tough guy." Said Cheetah, grabbed Kevin's entire face with his big hand and shoved him into the lockers, head and back first. "See you after school, pumpkin."

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"I am _so_ sorry- Kevin, wait!"

"Mr. Barr? Mr. Barr- Kevin, where are you going?"

Kevin opened the door and stormed out with Nazz right behind him. "Can I check on him? He said he felt sick." He heard her lie to the teacher before running after him. "Kevin, wait!" she finally caught up with him and grabbed his jacket from behind.

Kevin kept walking. Nazz dropped her grip but kept trying to pull his arm to stop him. Finally he turned around, walked straight into her, pushing her with his whole Quarter Back body so that she stumbled backwards several steps before she fell on the floor.

"Don't!" Kevin shouted, voice cracking, standing over her. "… try to get up. You crossed the line this time, Fitzgerald, I told you that I was going to ignore that you didn't have a dick between your legs next time. Oh, you are up for some good stuff." He had never been this furious his entire life, and the look on Nazz's face while lying there on the floor, was priceless. She was scared out of her mind. "You are going to fucking die, bitch." He chuckled angrily and pointed at her.

"Kevin Barr." Nazz whispered, eyes watering. "I'm sorry for what I said. I know that you are hurting-"

"SHUT UP!"

"I know what you had to go through!"

"You don't know anything!"

"I know; because I was there and I did absolutely nothing about it!" Nazz stood up, and Kevin was speechless, still mad, but speechless nonetheless. "I am… _sorry_ , Kevin, for not doing anything. I am sorry, for being a shitty friend. I am sorry… that your life turned out like this. I truly am. But I will not let you go. Do you get that? Not this time. I know that we haven't talked to each other for almost four years, but what the fuck, man? We were best friends. I know that you maybe didn't notice this; but I finally saw something in you yesterday, right after you sucker punched Double D. Dude, I saw _you_. The Kevin I knew as a child. The Kevin that that abomination to monster once took from us. The Kevin that I have missed every day since that summer break four years ago. The Kevin that would never hurt a friend, no matter the situation."

Kevin didn't know what to say anymore. He was still speechless and a little impressed that Nazz hadn't started crying yet like she always seemed to do. Of course Kevin had never punched a girl before… that was just empty threats, and he realized that Nazz had figured that out as well, and that _that_ was why she had become this brave around him.

He slowly calmed down. His rapid breathing became normal, but he didn't know why. Kevin kept looking at Nazz, and she kept looking at him, both quiet and trying to calm themselves down. So much had happened since yesterday, and Kevin now felt that all of that suppressed anger inside of him tried to break out.

"Please, Kevin. We need to talk." Nazz pleaded.

"Mr. Thatcher…" he mumbled. His head felt empty and fuzzy.

She thought for a few seconds, seemingly trying to make up a plan. "You can take this class off. I can do all the work today, and you can just sit there if you want to. I will leave you alone for the rest of the class; but I really do want to talk to you whenever you have time." Kevin nodded. "Do you think that you can swing by my house tonight after football practice?"

He nodded again, a bit nervous as this whole situation was strange for him. "Sure. I'll be there."

 **Eddward**  
By the end of lunch break Edd went to his locker to fetch his cell phone (he never used it during school days, but went to check it on his breaks). He had one missed call, and a text from his mother.

 _We need to talk when you come home_. Was all it said.

Even though the sentence was short, Edd read it repeatedly to try and truly understand what it was his mother wanted him. She had never texted him on school hours before, only when it had been something important; so what did she want to talk to him about? Should he call her or-

"Whoa, what did you do, Sockhead?"

"Hey! It's private!" Edd shoved his phone down his pocket and turned around to face his snooping friend.

"She sounded pissed." Eddy laughed as Edd shut the locker door.

"How can you possibly know that? It's a text."

"I just know. Uh… speaking of something else; can I come home with you after school?"

"No."

"I can wait in your room, I promise I won't eavesdrop."

"Yeah, right." Edd started walking down the hall while trying to avoid all the students on their way to their own classes. "I'm sure there's nothing too important. Hey, where's Ed?"

Eddy, who was walking behind Edd, looked around. "This time I was certain he was with me. Oh, well, he'll be back before math."

"I do hope so; we'll start in five minutes." Said Edd as he looked at his wrist watch. "Where does he wander away after lunch every day? Isn't it weird?"

"When did it start again?"

"Last month… right?"

"That _is_ weird." Eddy looked like he was thinking really hard. "Do you think that he takes extra classes?"

"I would hope so… but I think not. He would tell us- Oh…"

"What?" Eddy asked as Edd had so abruptly stopped talking.

"No, I just remembered something."

"Do you know where Ed is?"

"No."

"Meeting with the principal this afternoon?"

"Yeah…"

"Hey, listen." Eddy walked in front of Edd, thus stopping him from keep walking through the hallway. "Do you want me to wait for you outside the office?"

This again. Edd didn't want his friends to see him as this defenseless wimp which they seemed to think he was; but maybe it was his own fault that they over and over tried to protect him from the bully? He was on the verge of thinking " _his bully_ ", but Kevin had actually never bullied him… but somehow he makes his friends think that he does.

The reason must be that Edd is, as a matter of fact, nervous about Kevin for other things… he is not afraid of him being beaten anymore; he had gotten so much attention from the older teen these two past days that he didn't know what to do anymore. He remembered earlier this morning, where Kevin had spared him from the humiliation of outing him by reading his diary. Edd was still amazed over that Kevin's team mates hadn't told him about that entry he wrote before going to school – he would _know_ if they had.

But because Edd was cautious about these things whenever Kevin was brought up; his friends thought that he was in fact scared of being beaten again.

"No, thanks." Edd sighed. "You don't have to wait outside the principal's office, Eddy. The football team has their practice directly after school today; so he won't have time for me after the meeting."

"Are you sure?" Eddy lifted one eyebrow; he knew Edd was hiding something from him, but Edd didn't want to waste time on trying to come up with a lie.

"I am sure. I'll-"

"Hey, guys!" Nazz came running from behind the two friends, with a wide smile on her face. "What's up?"

This event with Kevin yesterday had really loosened everybody up; Nazz hadn't been this friendly to the Eds in forever; they had grown apart over the years on this high school with hundreds of students. Edd felt that it was a good thing that they talked to each other again, though, since Nazz had always been a dear friend to him when they were children.

"We're good! How about you?" Eddy almost shouted with a high pitched voice. Edd didn't want to embarrass his friend, who suddenly had become shy around Nazz, but he couldn't help but giggle a little from the sight of his reddening face.

"I'm fine, thank you." Nazz sang. "I'll just cut to the chase; I'm having a party tomorrow night, and I want all of you to come-" she looked around, but then shrugged, "Ed is invited too, of course. Where is he, by the way?"

It was hard for the boys to fathom what Nazz had just said. They were invited to _what_? No one had ever invited the Eds to a party before. Eddy had tried to sneak in on parties a few times, but the older teens had always found him and kicked him out.

"That's a good question." Edd replied. "We haven't seen him-"

"A party, eh?" Eddy asked. "What kind of party?"

"It's only a test party for the real party we're going to have in three weeks as a good bye for us who will attend college next year."

"A pre-college party?" Eddy couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"A pre-pre-college party, actually." Nazz seemed abstracted. "So can I count on you guys? I need to know how much food I need to get."

"Actually…" Edd started to say, but Eddy put his arm over his shoulder and cut him off.

"We'll be there!"

"Awesome! So then I'll buy food for five extra people."

"Five?" Edd asked.

"I've seen Ed eat in the cafeteria for the past three years; I know what he is capable of."

"He he, yeah." Eddy suddenly blushed. "Well, see you tomorrow then, Nazz."

"I'll see you on the bus after school! Laters, Edd and Eddy!" Nazz started skipping back to where she came from.

"You see that?" Eddy asked excitedly while watching Nazz disappearing down the hallway. "She wasn't even going our way; she saw us and really wanted to invite us to her party!"

"Eddy-" Edd tried.

"She actually wants us to be there! She actually wants _me_ to be there! This is awesome!"

"Seriously, though." Edd finally got Eddy's attention. "I don't want to go to that party."

Eddy's face slowly went from excited to indifferent. "What?"

"Remember last time the jocks had a party in the neighborhood? Police, ambulance and even the firefighters were called in! You know that our parents won't allow us to go, not after seeing what happens on those kinds of parties."

"We don't have to tell them."

"They'll know-"

"Please, Edd! Please!" Eddy cried dramatically and got down on his knees, started tugging Edd's shirt.

"Stop!" he tried to pry his friend's fingers off his shirt. "Stand up, Eddy! This looks ridiculous!"

"I will stop when you promise you'll go with me! Please, Edd!"

A group of people showed up around the corner, and the boys froze; Eddy on his knees in front of Edd with blushing face.

"Whoa…" one of them said, he looked grossed out.

Another one, the one with long brown hair, started smiling. "Ha! Isn't this rich?"

Edd couldn't utter a word; he really wanted to tell Eddy to stand up, but both were frozen in their last state, staring at the members of the football team, all staring back in disgrace. All of them were there… even Kevin.

"Well, shit…" Edd heard himself say. He was surprised the second after he said it. First of all; it was a word he'd never used before, and second of all; he thought that he wasn't going to be able to say anything at all. Eddy finally had the strength to stand up.

"No, no, please stay!" the long haired guy laughed. " _We're_ sorry we disturbed _you_." He glanced at Kevin with raised eyebrows like he wanted to say something, but he didn't, and the others just looked down on their feet.

Edd looked directly at Kevin, who looked back at him, but he hesitated. Now Kevin had to choose; either he'd take a stand to show his team mates that he was the boss, and started making fun of Edd and Eddy. He couldn't leave Edd out this time; then it would seem like he had gotten soft. Or, he could just walk away, but that would make his mates to start talking, and Kevin would lose his stance.

After a few silent seconds his team mates started squirming where they stood, and looked at Kevin who still hadn't said anything. His face expression changed; he'd decided what to do, and smiled. "It's extremely inappropriate to blow each other in the hallway, boys. Why don't you just sneak in to a toilet? You know there are stalls there right?" he said mercilessly, and continued. "What if a teacher had seen you? You should be grateful that it was only us, and not an executive."

"We didn't blow each other!" Eddy's face had turned red. "Fuck off, Kevin!"

"Oh, I don't believe that you did." Kevin scoffed. "You were just begging Poindexter to suck _his_ dick. I heard you." Him and his team started laughing, and they all began mimicking Eddy.

"Please, Edd!"

"Please, go out with me!"

"I won't stop until you pull down your pants and whip your dick out!"

"Slap me in the face with it!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

Edd glanced at Eddy who was literally boiling out of fury. His fists were clenched and his shoulders were pulled up to his ears, and he was grinding his teeth. At least they only teased them and did nothing more. "Let's go, Eddy." Edd said through the laughter. "Come on." But Eddy didn't budge. "Eddy, come on!"

"Yeah, come on, Eddy!" the long haired guy laughed. "Your boyfriend wants to go somewhere private. Don't let him hanging, bro."

"Hanging!" another one burst out in laughter.

"Eddy!" Edd grabbed Eddy's arm, but Eddy yanked it from his grip, didn't look away from Kevin.

Kevin immediately joined in on the staring contest. He smiled wider than ever, and his eyes… kind of changed. He looked insane, with wide, focused eyes and a sinister smile. He knew that he had pushed Eddy too far now; like he had done so many times before. "Go on, _Dorky_. What's on your mind?" Kevin said calmly. His team mates fell silent – soon they were going to witness a fight. "I can see on your face that you have something to tell me. So, tell me, Dorky. Don't be shy. Come on."

"Eddy, don't." Edd whispered next to him. He wished that a teacher would show up soon; he knew that Eddy would try and fight Kevin, and he knew that he was going to lose. "Please."

His whispering started another brawl from the football team:

"Please, Eddy!"

"Let's go somewhere private and blow each other!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Don't make me choose between the two of you, Eddy!"

"HAHAHAHA!"

"What was that?" Kevin growled towards the long haired guy who abruptly stopped laughing, and so did the others.

"Uhh…" he mumbled with wide eyes, sweat started pearling on his forehead.

Edd saw their chance to get away, now as the leader had turned to his own. He knew that if they stayed long enough to listen to this civil fight, then Eddy was going to find out about the diary. He grabbed his arm again but Eddy pulled away for the second time.

"No, wait!" he said with a mocking smile, his face turning back to normal color again, hungered for drama. "I wanna see this!"

"What was that, Byrd?" Kevin asked again, fists ready to punch. "I swear to god-"

"I-I'm sorry, Greyhound." The long haired guy, or _Byrd_ , stammered. "I-I don't know w-what-"

"What the fuck, man? Why?"

"It will never repeat itself!"

Edd pushed Eddy in front of him with all his might; and he actually succeeded this time.

"Hey! Hey! Stop!" Eddy shouted, but Edd kept pushing him through the hallway until they reached their classroom door. "I wanted to know what that was all about!"

"Too bad!" Edd said as the school bell rang and the hallway filled with students walking to their classes. "You were almost killed back there!"

"What do you think that meant?" Eddy asked excitedly.

Edd started blushing. "I don't know. Let's forget about it. I'm sure-"

"I'm going to find out! Mark my words, Sockhead, I _will_ figure out why Kevin reacted so strongly back there… do you think it has anything to do with his first year here?"

"I warn you, Eddy, do not, I repeat, do not interfere with Kevin's past. That is a really dangerous thing to meddle in. You have nothing to do with that. Alright?"

"But it's so strange that he just changed from being a normal dipshit to this psycho bully! Don't you agree?"

"Yes, it is weird. But it's not up to you to- Oh, good, there's Ed!"

"Hey, guys!" Ed headed towards them outside the math class room as the teacher unlocked the door for them.

"Did you get lost or something?" Eddy teased Ed. They lingered outside as the students started going into the class room.

"Uh, yeah… What class do we have?"

Ed always seemed so weird and calm and… kind of grown up, whenever he came back from wherever he'd been gone to during lunch break, but Edd didn't think much about it anymore.

"Yeah. Hey, we're invited to a party tomorrow!" Eddy said.

"A party?"

"At Nazz's! Cool, huh?"

"Like, a real party? With booze?"

"Yes! Oh, we need booze! How about-"

"No!" Edd interrupted him. "You will not steal beer from my father to drink at Nazz's party. Do you understand that?"

"Gee, Edd, why are you so stuck up nowadays?"

"Let's talk about this after school, shall we?" Edd muttered all the way to his seat and didn't talk to Eddy the rest of the class.


	5. The vodka bottle

Comments from: **Goss** **,** **Dani-san66** and **SvartaAnkan** **.** Thank you so much for the awesome comments you're giving me! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!  
Reply to **SvartaAnkan** : Yes, it would be more problematic to lie about the principal's wife rather than to just talk, but first; a meeting could take half an hour, and that would be confusing to poor Ed whose waiting to practice. And second; I think that Edd did what he did mostly to impress Kevin ;) don't you think? :P

New followers and favorites: **Skrillexia** and **Dani-san66**. You are the BEST for clicking those 'follow' and 'favorite' buttons! Thank you!  
More favorites: **desimelton** , **sally66** and **cheedarjackcat11**!  
And more followers: **sally66** and **cheedarjackcat11**!

Thank you all for the support, you guys, I don't know what to say :') I hope that this next chapter will be something else, though, at least I feel that Edd and Kevin is getting closer each other with every chapter!

* * *

 **The vodka bottle**

 **Kevin** _  
Saved by the school bell_ , Kevin thought as it rang through the building. He gave Byrd one last strict glare, let go of his shirt and began walking through the corridor to History class without saying another word to him. Something was really going on on this school. Students weren't afraid of him, started challenging him, his team mates tested his patience and leadership; especially Cody Byrd. Kevin always knew that Byrd would someday try to challenge the captain – but why now, though? They were going to graduate in only three weeks, and the final game was going to be in two, so how did he see his chance now? He couldn't beat him up now either – it was too close to the game (maybe Byrd was aware of that as well, and that was why he was getting cockier); but he certainly would do it after the game. Not that it would change anything since they wouldn't go to the same schools after the summer break, but Kevin was going to make sure that everyone knows that no one fucks with Kevin Barr.

History class went on as always, and then school ended earlier than usual because it was Friday; Fridays were always the shortest days. Kevin groaned and stood up from his chair, and was the last one walking out of the class room. He walked through the busy hallways and finally stopped by the foot of a set of stairs leading up to the principal's office. He sighed, and started walking. Once he landed on the top of the stairs, he knocked on the big wooden door and waited for the secretary to shout "come in!" before opening it, and went in. As he had already expected he noticed Eddward Vincent already sitting on a chair waiting outside the office, but Kevin didn't look directly at him. He heard the nerd inhale and stop breathing as if he thought he could turn invisible just by doing so, and sat down on a chair across to him, still not looking at him. He just wanted this to be over with.

"Principal Norton will be ready for you soon, Mr. Vincent and Mr. Barr." The secretary, an old lady with greying dark hair and blood red lips, stood in the doorway into her own office just by the wooden door.

"Thank you, Mrs. Bowers." Said Kevin with his most charming smile.

"What are _you_ in for?" she asked him with a motherly tone on her raspy whiskey voice while shaking her head.

"It's just a misunderstanding, Mrs. Bowers. I will be out in no time."

"Aren't you having football practice now?" she looked out the window which had a view of the football field.

Kevin glanced at Eddward Vincent who kept staring down on his feet with his hands clasped in his lap. He shivered as he felt Kevin watching him. "Yeah." Kevin replied to Mrs. Bowers, and then turned to her with another convincing grin. "Like I said; I will be out in no time. I'll be down there in a few minutes or so."

"I hope that the principal's in a good mood today; I wouldn't want you boys to lose this game. We need to win your last year."

"Don't you worry, Mrs. Bowers."

"You're such a sweet boy, Kevin." Mrs. Bowers winked at him and then disappeared into her own office, closed the door a little and began tapping on her keyboard.

Kevin sighed. "This is ridiculous." He mumbled. Edd stopped breathing again, Kevin looked up to see him staring at him, and quickly looked away with burning face. "Hey, kid, you don't have to be scared of me, okay?"

Edd looked back at Kevin with chock in his eyes and a slightly open mouth. "I'm not scared of you." He said.

"That's good." Said Kevin, he slid down on the chair and stretched out his long legs in front of him. "I need you to do me a favor then."

"What kind of favor?"

Kevin sat up straight again, looked straight into Edd's eyes before he glanced at the principal's door, and then at Mrs. Bowers door. He stood up, walked across the room and sat down next to Edd who just stared back at him with round and frightened eyes. _Yeah, right, not scared, huh?_ "I really need to have this practice with the football team. You get that, right? Of course you do. As the captain I need to always be there for my team, I can't run around and get detentions. At least not now, so close to the final game. So, you need to tell Principal Norton that we were just playing yesterday, okay?" he looked at Edd's black eye a few extra moments, just to see what the cause of _that_ could be. "I accidently pushed you and you hit your eye on the corner of the locker door."

"Y-you want me to lie?" Edd stammered.

"Not lie, just… bend the truth a little."

"I'm not sure I'm able to just lie like that, Kevin. I'm terrible at-"

"If you don't do this for me, Double-dweeb, then so help me…" They both looked back at Mrs. Bowers' office, thinking she'd heard Kevin's threat, but she kept typing on her keyboard in there. "So how do you want this to go down? Either you help me out of here, so that I can go to my practice; or… I will have to make you _wish_ that you took this chance."

Edd let out a trembling sigh, and then he looked up at Kevin. "I'm sorry, Kevin. But I can't. I guess that you can do whatever you choose to do with me."

Who the hell did he think he was? He just sat there (Edd had stopped breathing again) and looked at Kevin like he, Edd, was some kind of hero; a hero which had just sacrificed himself to the monster to save the world. Kevin clicked with his tongue, and that made Edd jump and gasp for air – he had been prepared on being punched.

"You win, dork." Kevin just said, he groaned and then he sighed again before declining back into the chair. He looked straight forward with his arms crossed over his chest and stretched legs.

They were both quiet for almost a whole minute before Edd took his phone out of his pocket and put it to his ear, Kevin looked at him as he did so. The phone rang in Mrs. Bowers' office, and she answered it after the second signal.

"Yeah, hi, my name is Charles Burnett and I work at the Peach Creek hospital…"

Kevin couldn't look away from Edd who talked into his cell phone like he was some kind of doctor. He distorted his voice to sound much more mature; it was lower and darker than what Kevin was used to, Edd cautiously threw glances over at the secretary's office.

"Have you gone insane?" Kevin whispered, but Edd just shook his head.

"Yes, well, I would like to talk to a Mr. Richard Norton. I believe he's the principal?" Mrs. Bowers said something, but Kevin couldn't hear her as she had her door almost shut. Edd continued with his convincing adult voice: "It's rather urgent; his wife came in ten minutes ago, and she is in labor." Dr. Eddward laughed. "I am not kidding, Mrs. Bowers. Yes, thank you, no problem at all, thanks, bye bye."

The door to Mrs. Bowers' office flung open and she ran out. "Oh, you can go home, boys. The principal has an errand he needs to tend to." Kevin skeptically watched her walk across the room and knock on the principal's door. She opened it and told him what her caller had just told her, and someone was rushing inside the office.

"Can you postpone my meeting with Mr. Barr and Mr. Vincent to Monday, Mrs. Bowers? Thank you! Bye, guys. Behave!" Principal Norton said as he rushed through the waiting room and exited it without looking back again.

"They called from the hospital." Mrs. Bowers explained to Edd and Kevin.

Even though she smiled, Edd said with a worried face and his normal nerdy voice again: "Oh, dear, is it serious?"

Kevin stared at him, mistrusting. What is going on here? How- what?

"Oh, no! Nothing of that sort!" Mrs. Bowers giggled. "His wife is giving birth to their third daughter. Oh, this is so exciting! Well, that means you can go home, Mr. Vincent, and you can go to your practice, Kevin. This turned out really well in the end, huh? Let me just check Mr. Norton's calendar to schedule the meeting another time."

Edd and Kevin left the waiting room together and quietly walked down the stairs. Kevin still had a surprised expression on his face when he stopped by the foot of the stairs. "That was- well, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen, I think." He told Edd. "How did you- when did you-"

"Everybody knows that Principal Norton's wife is expecting any day now, and my parents are doctors, remember? I've been around a lot of times growing up when they've called their patients."

"I thought you were a terrible liar."

Edd smirked. "And you believed it."

It was like a total different person was standing in front of Kevin, everything about Eddward had changed; his nervous voice was now calm and confident, and even his not so long ago anxious body language was a lot more relaxed, and his posture had straightened out.

"You're a genius." Kevin heard himself imply. "Why did you do it?" he knew that the nerd wasn't afraid of him anymore; even though he surely had acted like it a few minutes ago.

"I know how much that game means to you. And also; Ed is on your team," oh, so _that_ was why he made that prank call, "he needs his routines or else he gets confused…" he looked like he'd confessed something he hadn't planned on doing, like he had said too much already. "I mean-"

"Yeah, I know. He gets passive whenever something changes; we subconsciously adapts after his schedule because we know how hard it is to snap him out of it." Kevin shrugged like it was no big deal to him. "He's a really important player."

"He is? I…" Edd suddenly sounded a bit nervous again. "I heard that you wanted to remove him from the team before the game. Is that something I need to worry about? I can help you with him as much as you need to, just please, don't make him quit the team."

"What? Who told you that?"

Edd's face turned a little redder when he tried to keep eye contact. "I-I heard it from one of your team mates two months ago, but they didn't tell me directly. I just overheard them."

"Byrd? The one with long brown hair and brown eyes?" Kevin asked, and Edd nodded stiffly. If Kevin knew anything about Eddward Vincent; then tattle-tailing was one thing he really disliked. At least if the one he was telling on had the temperament of a bull. "That little rat. You have nothing to worry about, Vincent, I won't tell him that you said this, and I won't kick Beefhead off the team."

So it was settled; Cody Byrd was going to regret ever being born.

 **Eddward**  
"Double D! You made it!" Eddy shouted from the back of the bus, where he sat on the seat behind Nazz, leaning over the chair next to hers.

"Wow, what happened?" Nazz asked.

Eddy scooted in to let Edd sit down next to him, and Nazz turned around on her seat to talk to the boys. The engine started, and Edd was panting since he had been running to the bus stop from the school building. "The Principal had a last minute errand, so he let us go."

"That was fortunate." Said Nazz.

"Real lucky." Said Eddy. "And hey, I thought about what you said earlier today about, you know… I won't take anything from them this time."

"Thanks for understanding." Edd said; he knew that Eddy was talking about his father's beer bottles in the basement.

"What are you talking about?" Nazz wanted to know.

"Uhm…" Eddy became a little shy again. "I don't know how to get a hold on… you know… to the party tomorrow…"

"Oh, you're talking about alcohol?" she lowered her voice. "Yeah, I know, it's really hard nowadays."

"How did you get yours?" Eddy asked. Edd looked out the window, slowly fading away.

"Well, I know a guy…"

He couldn't believe that he had just prank called the principal to save a bully from being suspended; and what was even worse was that the same bully had given him this black eye only twenty seven hours ago. Why was he so forgiving again? Yeah, that's right…

Edd had had this, sort of, crush on Kevin Barr for almost a year now. Or… he would lie to himself if he said that he hadn't had these kinds of feelings for several years already, but he didn't start accepting them until last year, when he finally, kind of, understood them. He still doesn't really understand them properly, but he knows the feeling he gets whenever he comes across the teen. It confused Edd at first, and still does sometimes, but he can handle it in a different way now. He had never been interested in a girl the same way, though every boy in the neighborhood seemed to crush on Nazz. But Edd had figured out that that was because she was the only girl there except for Ed's little sister Sarah, and the Kanker sisters that lived far away from the Cul-de-Sac… Nazz is a very nice girl, both talking to and looking at, but the boys in the neighborhood made her appear like some kind of super girl, but she really was… a normal girl. Edd glanced at Eddy; well, at least that was Edd's opinion.

He thought about all of this because of the conversation he had just had with Kevin, the almost normal conversation, with Kevin being genuinely thankful towards Edd for saving his day. His face had shone with gratitude, while watching the younger teen with a wide beaming smile and mischievous light green eyes-

"… when Kevin stops by my house later tonight." Nazz snapped Edd out of his day dreaming.

"Is Kevin stopping by your house tonight?" Eddy asked with wide eyes. His face started turning red; and not the sweet shade of red he usually got when talking to Nazz; remembering the argument earlier today. "Why?"

"Because I told him to. Oh!" she turned to Edd. "I'm so sorry you had to find out this way, Double D, but I hope that you will forgive me. I don't want to pick side or anything, it's just… It's Kevin, you know?" she lowered her voice again and leaned closer to the Eds; totally misunderstanding the expression on his face for fear or something. "I think that he really needs someone to talk to… Do you think that I'm really stupid for doing this?"

It took Edd a moment before he could answer: "Oh, no, that's great, Nathalie."

His heart inexplicably started to thump against his ribs. He didn't know if it was because of them talking about the subject of his confusing romantic feelings, or if it was… well, it couldn't be jealousy, could it? Edd had never felt this before. Only the thought of the two former best friends meeting again, as teenagers, in one of the teens' bedroom… Nobody was fooled by the obvious tension between Nazz and Kevin growing up, and reuniting after three years could only end up in…

Okay, Edd had to admit it to himself; this _was_ actually jealousy.

"You're just compassionate." He thanked the great gods for gifting him with this ability to lie believably… even though he didn't believe in the great gods. "I, too, think that he needs someone to talk to." He said monotonously, like a robot.

"Thank you." Nazz said earnestly with her hand on her heart. "Okay, for this, I can give you guys one bottle of vodka to share."

"Because of Double D not being mad at you for talking to Kevin tonight? Deal!" Eddy exclaimed.

"Thank you, Nathalie, but-"

"No buts!" said Eddy with a nervous chuckle. "Come on, man, be cool." He wheezed.

"I'm going to be honest here; I don't think that I can come to your party, Nathalie. And I don't care if this sounds childish; but I'm positive that my parents won't let me go, either way. You can still have that bottle, Eddy, but drink it with cautious. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you because of under aged drinking. I will advise you, though, to not drink at all tomorrow. I'll even let you listen to what my mother wants to scold me about today if you promise not to go down that road by putting yourself in danger."

"Aaw, Double D, that's so sweet!" Nathalie said heartfelt with tears in her eyes. "I've really missed you guys!" she grabbed both the Eds around their necks and pulled them into a group hug. "I love you guys so much!" she let go of them, both with glowing cheeks. "I'm with you, Double D, you can have the bottle, Eddy, but I would love it if you didn't drink it. Hey! Maybe you could save it for something special? And all three of us can share it in, like, ten years from now and laugh about this memory?"

Eddy looked like someone had just told him that Santa wasn't real. "So, you're telling me that you're going to give me a bottle of vodka, but I can't drink it?"

"Yeah!" Nazz said, but she sounded a little unsure. "I just thought it could be a fun thing. At least I am counting on being friends with you forever now."

"Okay, Sockhead, let's see what you did to upset your mom." Eddy got this sinister smile all over his face.

"Thank you, Eddy." Said Edd, but his stomach started to turn. At the same time as he hoped that it wasn't going to be anything too dramatic, he still hoped that it was going to be important enough to make his mother not to let Eddy into the house.

…

The two best friends walked towards Edd's house at the beginning of the Cul-de-Sac, and they both quickened their steps on the wet, slippery asphalt as they got closer. They reached for the door at the same time, but someone else opened it from the inside.

"Good, you're home, Eddward." Said Edd's mother, blocking the way for the boys to walk in. Edd's heart skipped a beat; his mother actually looked mad, and then she turned to Eddy. "I'm sorry, Eddy, but I need to talk to my son in private."

"Can't I wait on his room?"

"No." his mother said almost immediately. "I will let him tell you when you can see each other again."

"You're grounding me?" Edd asked with his heart in his throat. His palms started to sweat; he hated confrontations like these.

"Maybe, but- What on earth happened to your eye?" she started touching the skin around Edd's left eye with her cold finger tips, and he cringed as it hurt.

"I- I, uh-"

"We have a lot to talk about, it seems. In with you, and we'll see you later, Eddy. Say hi to your mother from me!" she shoved Edd in front of her into the house and shut the door in Eddy's face.

She kept pushing him until they reached the couches, Edd sat down in one of them; the one Kevin had slept in last night. She didn't know about the eye before she saw it half a minute ago, so that wasn't possibly what she was upset over, so maybe it was something that Edd had failed to clean this morning? He was positive that he had cleaned the downstairs bathroom even though it hadn't been dirty… oh, god… he didn't check the shower! Did she find vomit or something else in the shower? Oh, that stupid, shabby, dirty jock!

"How are you, Eddward?" his mother asked him. She sat next to him.

"I'm fine, thank you. How are you, mother?" he tried to stay cool; this was just a misunderstanding.

"I'm feeling well, Edd. Thank you for asking." She looked deep into his eyes. "Breathe, please." Edd took a deep breath. "Into my face."

"What?!"

"I want to smell your breath, Eddward."

Edd did what his mother told him and breathed quickly in the air between them, and she sniffed it. "I'm not smoking, if that's what you're trying to imply." He didn't mean to sound rude; but he couldn't help but feel just a little insulted by this sudden mistrust from his own mother.

"I don't think that you're smoking, sweetie, you know better than that. And I don't smell alcohol on your breath, either, so I don't have any more tests for you. You're off the hook."

"Alcohol?"

"Yeah, I found this," she pulled out an empty bottle of vodka from under the couch, "right outside our door. Do you know who this belongs to?"

Edd tried his hardest not to react too strongly from the sight of the bottle, and once again he cursed the jock for getting him into trouble. He shook his head. "I've never seen it."

"Are you sure?"

Edd nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I would tell you if I knew."

"I know." His mother puffed, and changed back to normal again. "Whew! Then we don't have a problem anymore! I believe you, sweetie, you know that, right?"

"Yes, mother." Edd smiled.

"Then I guess that one of the other teens threw it at our house. I will find out who that brat is. I'm so sorry for thinking it was you."

"I forgive you. Where's father?"

"On his way; we can all finally have a family dinner!"

"That's great. Are- are we finished here then?" he asked unsurely, still with a pleasant smile. "Am I excused to go to my room? I have homework to do so that I can have the weekend free for other activities."

"Yes, of course, of course!" Edd stood up, but his mother pulled him down on the couch again. "Right after you've explained that black eye." She began touching it again and Edd cringed.


	6. Sunrise

Here comes the thank you's to all of you awesome people out there!  
The comments: Thank you **SvartaAnkan**! You said that both Edd and Kevin have their bedrooms on the upper level, and, I admit, maybe they have in the cartoon. Well, at least Edd has his bedroom on the upper level in my story as well (and I'm sorry if I haven't been clear on that D:) but I wanted Kevin to have his on the first floor (downstairs) so that he could sneak out at nights ^^ Maybe he got his parents to move out and take one of the upstairs bedrooms!  
And thank you **DwhitneyBarbie** , **Salistina** and **Guest** for the support about my short chapter! ( _It was short before I started changing all the chapters_ ) And I'm glad to hear that my message got through! :)

So here we go again! Shoutouts to my new favorites and followers:  
 **Ruby Killer**  
 **Ladyhinatarel**  
 **Darmia13**  
 **loalincon4**  
 **Ladyhinatarel**  
 **DwhitneyBarbie**  
 **konohinamoto**  
 **Raine** V  
 **Sugaii**  
 **DarkArtemiss**  
 **Mimi2010** **  
** **Mesha0106**  
 **Tia Mih**

I wrote a lot here before but I accidentally left the page without saving... So to keep it short; I was saying that I have been busy with school and my comic book I started last summer, and that's why I haven't been able to update in a while. You can check out a few peeks of the comic (and other fanart) when you visit my tumlr page: **jeelindberg**.  
Google _The apex king webtoon_ to find my comic!

* * *

 **Sunrise**

 **Kevin**  
Four hours later, all twenty four of Peach Creek High's football players (including the second string) walked into the changing room situated in the school building. They were all sweaty, tired, hungry and drenched, and some of them were sulking as they sat down on the benches, trying to kick their wet shoes off.

"Good practice, boys." Said Coach Dawson. He walked through the room, presumably to lock up the sports center. "I'm proud of the lot of you, especially you Jefferson." He stopped and pointed at Seth with his whole hand. "Even though it was raining buckets out there you pulled through. That is called dedication, son."

"Thanks, Coach." Jefferson mumbled.

Kevin snorted; he wouldn't have praised Jefferson like that; he had been acting like a real bitch on the field today, and had turned almost half the team against him. But Coach seemed to think that that was a behavior to encourage, apparently. He started undressing, but changed his mind. He rode his motorcycle to school this morning, so putting clean and dry clothes on before driving home in the rain would be extremely unnecessary. It wasn't even raining that much anymore; so he wanted to try and make it home _before_ it started again.

He waited for the coach to disappear through the door before he stood up and walked out the changing room, walked down the hallway and out the building. He didn't tell his team mates good bye; but they were all too tired and hungry now to even _bother_ trying to be nice to each other, anyway.

Once he sat on his motorcycle and put the key in the key guard, Kevin spotted the tall one of the Eds on the bus stop, waiting for the bus underneath the heavy, dark clouds. He quickly pulled out his cell from his pocket to see what time it was – the bus wasn't going to arrive in over an hour. He rolled his eyes – what if it starts to rain again? The geek is going to catch a cold… why didn't he wait for the bus inside the school? Or ask Coach Dawson for a ride? Did he always wait for the bus after practice? Because unlike Kevin; Ed always left straight after practice without showering and changing first, this was only a temporal phenomenon for Kevin because of the weather and the fact that he had his bike.

"Aw, man…" he groaned, started the engine on the bike and drove it across the parking lot to the bus stop. "Hey, Beefhead! Want a ride?" he asked Ed, who stared at Kevin with wide, frightened eyes.

"Uh… no, thanks, Greyhound."

"Aren't you waiting for the seven thirteen bus?" Ed nodded quickly. "Well, that concludes it then; hop on the bike, Hill." Kevin said with an immensely sarcastic tone on his voice, impatiently rolling his eyes again.

"I- I don't mind waiting for the bus."

"I need you to not be sick for the game in two weeks. You can hold on to our bags between us."

"No, thank you. I don't mind-"

"Take a seat behind me, Hill."

"I don't mind-"

"I insist." Kevin's patience was wearing thinner.

"I actually-"

"JUST HOP ON THE FUCKING BIKE, BEEFHEAD!"

Ed jumped, pulled his bag up from the ground and put it on Kevin's bag on the seat behind him (they were almost empty due to the boys wearing their football gear on their bodies instead of having them packed in the bags), then he straddled behind Kevin with the two bags in between them. The motorcycle lurched a little to the side from Ed's weight; Kevin had to brace against the ground with his right leg, and the shock-absorbers gave way a little under him. _How heavy is this guy?_

"Uhm… How will I stop myself from falling off this thing?" Ed asked.

"See if you can reach around the bags to my- UMPH!" Ed grabbed Kevin around his chest, making him lose breath. "Too… tight… Beefhead… Loosen your fucking grip, will ya?!" he gasped and wheezed as Ed let him go.

"Sorry." Ed mumbled.

"Let's try it this way. Put your arms loosely around my chest. Okay, that's fine. No tighten your grip. A little tighter. A little more- there! Now, hold on – not tighter than that – and you won't fall off."

The motorcycle roared, and though Kevin had specifically told Ed not to tighten his grip, he did, and Kevin rolled his eyes a third time. This was only going to take fifteen minutes.

Twenty five minutes later, Kevin stopped outside the Hills' resident, and as Ed hopped off the bike he started panting. Finally he could breathe normally again. He had been driving slowly through the curves due to the wet asphalt, and in every curve Ed had clutched onto Kevin even harder, making him to struggle for air. At least they beat the rain home.

"Well, thank you for the ride, Greyhound." Said Ed and flung his bag over his shoulder.

"No, biggie." Kevin replied, relieved that this nightmarish ride was all over. "Go home and eat now, okay, Hill? You deserve it."

"Okay-dokey. Bye, Barr."

Ed was walking up his driveway and Kevin started the engine again, crossed the cul-de-sac and then stopped outside his garage. He couldn't pretend anymore; he actually liked the kid. Beefhead was cool.

"Honey, I'm home!" he shouted as he entered the house through the kitchen from the garage. At first it was quiet, and as always Kevin started to sweat. He kept staring down on his feet, didn't have the courage to look up, and stopped breathing. His heart slowed down as he waited.

And then he heard it; the claws clicking on the floor.

Kevin finally looked up, sat down on the floor and let the little white bull terrier lick him all over his hands, arms and face, and squirm around his feet. He picked the dog up, stood up, and walked through the kitchen to see what was on the stove. Someone was cooking dinner, and it was soon finished.

"Just in time!" his mother sang as she entered the kitchen from the dining room. "I was just making the table." She walked up to Kevin, who was at least one head taller than her, and scratched Honey's head. She started squirming again, trying to get closer to Mrs. Barr. "And Honey is doing great today – no seizers. How was practice? You're still wearing your gear."

"It seemed unnecessary to change."

"Yeah, the weather, your bike." Mrs. Barr said. "Alright. Take a shower and change. Your father will be home soon too."

Kevin took a quick shower, dressed into his camo pants and dark grey pullover, sat down to eat with his family and then put his black leather jacket on in the hallway.

"Are you going out?" his father asked behind him. "No parties, I hope?"

"I'm just going to a friend." Kevin mumbled.

"Good. Because I won't let you inside this house if you come home drunk again."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"And don't bang the-"

Kevin shut the door before his father had time to tell him not to, and hurried around the cul-de-sac on the sidewalk to Nazz's house. He hadn't been there in several years, but she still lived there. His heart skipped a beat when he knocked on the door. The familiar nervousness he lived with as a pre-teen blossomed inside of him; he had been so anxious when he was younger, that he simply stopped knocking on her door whenever they were going to hang out, and just rang the bell on his bike instead to announce his presence.

The door opened. "Oh, hey, Kevin! I'm glad you could make it. Don't just stand there, come in!" Nazz moved out of his way to let him in, and Kevin walked into the hallway with his heart banging inside his chest.

He took off his dirty shoes and wet jacket before walking in, and then Nazz lead the way through the house, past the living room. A man sat on the couch in the living room, watching a baseball game on TV, beer in hand. He lifted his head when he noticed Kevin. "Kevin. Good to see you again. What's up?" Nazz's father said. He didn't seem too surprise, so Nazz must've talked to her father beforehand.

"I'm fine, Mr. Van Bartonshmeer. How are you?"

"It's actually Fitzgerald now. And I'm good, too, Kevin. Are you two going to study?" he asked Nazz.

Kevin mentally kicked himself for using Nazz's and her father's old last name, all this nostalgia made him shrink down to his young, pathetic self again. In the heat of moment he'd totally forgotten about their name change after Nazz's mother's death two years ago, and even though he and Nazz wasn't friends back then, the news reached him. He felt like a douche bag for not remembering Nazz and her father taking her mother's maiden name in honor to the mother's memory.

"Yeah. We'll go get some snacks later, and then we'll be in my room the rest of the evening."

Her father gave her a strict glare; he then glanced at Kevin, and then back at her again. "Door open, no music."

" _Dad_!" Nazz wheezed, and Kevin felt his face starting to burn, but he couldn't stop himself from snorting.

"You don't have to worry about that, Mr. Fitzgerald." Said Kevin with a chuckle.

Mr. Fitzgerald didn't look too convinced, but he didn't stress it anymore, and turned to the TV again as someone was pitching the ball. Nazz walked up the stairs with low head, and Kevin followed her. He'd been too busy scoffing all the way up, he forgot to be nervous, but it struck him immediately after being invited into her bedroom. He gulped. Kevin had never been in Nazz's bedroom before, and he didn't think that any kid in the neighborhood, except for Sarah and maybe Jimmy, had been either.

It was clean, with lots of stuff in it, clutter. She had decorated her room with an indefinite amount of plants, small gnome figures and a white knitted bedspread. If he didn't know better, then he'd think that he'd just walked into someone's grandmother's bedroom – but a tad more modern.

"Please, sit." Nazz gestured towards her bed, and Kevin sat down. A distinct feminine scent filled his nostrils, a little flowery. Nazz sat down on one of those really old office chairs made of dark wood; that kind of wood with a layer of something sticky if you touch it, or can scrape off with your finger nail. She had dressed the old chair with some flowery cloth and a round, yellow pillow. "How was practice?" she asked.

Kevin just couldn't believe his eyes; he had never imagined Nazz's bedroom to look like something straight out of a fairy tale. "Except for the rain; it was good. I'm happy it's over, though." He said, trying to keep his cool.

"That's good. Then let's… let's do this. You know why you're here."

"You wanted to talk." Said Kevin. Why did he walk over here, really? Why didn't he stop himself from doing this mistake? He didn't want to _talk_.

"I'll start by asking a few questions, and please, don't answer if you don't want to. I won't make you."

"Thanks…" Kevin said skeptically.

"I need to know, Kevin…" Nazz lowered her voice, but the TV was on full volume down stairs. "What happened our freshman year?"

Kevin started gnawing the inside of his cheek. He always knew that this was what Nazz wanted to talk to him about, and he had accepted, but he started to really change his mind now. His leg started jerking, eye twitching. "Next question." He mumbled as he chewed on his nails, sweat pearling on his forehead and back.

"Okay… then what happened before all of that? Why did you ignore my calls?"

"What is this? Are you interrogating me or something?" he spat.

"No, I'm sorry!" Nazz hurried to say. "I'm just curious as of what happened to you, to us. We were best friends, and one day you just stopped answering my calls, and… Did I do something to upset you?"

Heart rate slowing down, saliva filling his mouth, Kevin tried to remember his life before starting that high school from hell. He remembered how he gradually tried to avoid his love interest just because he knew that he would never get her to love him back. "You once told me that you thought of me as your brother." He just truthfully blurted out.

Nazz's eyes widened, lips separated, and just stared back at him. "I'm sorry, Kevin…" she whispered. "I didn't know… So you… you were in love with me?"

"Weren't we all?" he chuckled sadly, referring to him and every boy in the neighborhood, thinking back to his childhood memories was actually kind of refreshing for a change. He remembered the feelings he had had for her as a pre-teen and a few years after that. "I just couldn't stand the thought of you not loving me back. I didn't want you to see me as your brother. But I'm all over that now, so you don't have to feel guilty or anything."

"I just can't help it." She mumbled, looking down on her lap. "I can't push the thought of… if you hadn't been in love with me, or if I had answered your feelings, then we would still be friends and nothing of this would ever have happened."

"Well, now you didn't, did you?" Kevin murmured. "And I don't think that being friends would stop him from doing what he did. It's not your fault. Or… that is if I hadn't been in love with you; it would maybe have ended differently if you'd felt the same."

"How?" Nazz asked.

Kevin felt that he'd already said too much. Yesterday Nazz was a total stranger to him, and today they acted like nothing had ever happened between them? That nothing at all had changed? Well, it doesn't work like that, not by a long chalk. He shook his head. "I don't want to go down that road again. Not tonight." Not ever, really, but he was surprised that he actually _wanted_ to talk to Nazz about this, at least some day.

"That's okay, Kevin. Thank you for sharing with me." She stood up. "You want a coke? I'll go downstairs and get some snacks."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks, Nazz." Kevin said, pulled off his red cap from his head, and then put it on again. She'd stopped in the doorway, looked at Kevin and beamed. "What?" he asked.

"No one has called me that in years."

"Called you what?"

"'Nazz'. Everybody says 'Nathalie' to me nowadays."

"I didn't say that. I said 'Nathalie'." Kevin protested; he would know if he'd used her old nickname he gave her when they were children.

"You said 'Nazz', Kev! I would know, 'cause I'd totally forgotten about that name."

"It's _your_ fault! Inviting me to your home. And this stupid red riding hood's grandma's cottage smells like you and- who the hell lives like this? I mean-"

Nazz just shot him her biggest grin yet, and then danced down the stairs to the kitchen, leaving Kevin on her bed, sweating like a crazy person and awe-struck.

 **Eddward**  
Eddward Vincent sat on his bed, looking out his window with a view of the entire cul-de-sac. He could see every house from here, but at very best he saw the house right in front of his, across the road. It was Kevin Barr's house, and he had his bedroom window facing Edd's. The curtains had been pulled aside to let some sunshine in, but due to the weather this Friday night, it was dark. No lights were on inside that bedroom on the first floor, because Kevin wasn't in it. Edd stretched his neck a little and leaned against the window; put his right cheek on the cool glass. He looked further to the left down the street and saw Nathalie Fitzgerald's house at the end of the cul-de-sac, and the lights in her bedroom were lit. Eddward continuously threw an eye over to the black briefcase underneath his desk, the briefcase containing a telescope he used to stargaze at nights with; but it wasn't stars he was planning on gazing at on this particular night. He controlled his urge to spy on Kevin and Nazz; and he would be out of his mind if he would even _think_ that he could stop whatever was going on in there or prevent whatever was going to happen. What could he do?

What should he do?

Edd threw himself on his back, kicking one of his pillows in the air, catching it with his hand and put it over his face. He wanted to scream into it, but he wasn't home alone today, and his parents would hear him through the ceiling. He couldn't stand the thought of Kevin and Nazz falling in love… it was almost an impeccable fate, though, seeing the two teens being out of and in love with each other back and forth. Of course Edd couldn't possibly know if Nazz had ever been in love with Kevin; but who couldn't resist his charm, and those green eyes, and his toothy, gorgeous smile, and his-

Okay, here it comes. Burying face in pillow and then: " _AAAHHHHH_!"

Edd was fast on his feet, pulled out an old magazine from one of his desk drawers and jumped back onto the bed. He quickly browsed through it and waited, but he didn't have to wait for long before he heard running steps in the stairs and then the door flung open.

"Eddward! Are you okay?" his overprotective mother asked with panic in her voice. Edd's father was right behind her, but didn't look as worried.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, mother; I just read something really exciting in this science magazine." Edd tried to sound innocent, but all he really could think of was his sinking heart.

"Oh… what's the news, sweetie?" she asked with fake curiosity; she was just relieved that her precious boy was unharmed.

Edd read an article from the magazine of some Professor inventing something, and he noticed that his father slowly walked away, seeing the danger was non-existent.

"That's nice, Eddward." Said Mrs. Vincent, then she closed the door but discreetly left it just a tiny bit open.

Edd sighed, rose up from his bed, threw the magazine on the desk and went to shut the door. He needed to pull himself together; he couldn't freak out like this when his parents were home. But further more; he should really try to control himself even though his parents _weren't_ home – this is not a healthy behavior. He walked to his window again, but this time he took his phone from the windowsill and finally read the text messages he received from Eddy an hour ago.

Eddy  
6:34 pm  
DUDE wtf is going on?

6:34 pm  
Apparently ur mom found a bottle of vodka outside ur door this morning, n asked my mom to talk to ME about it!

6:36 pm  
Do you think Kevin put it there? It wouldnt surprise me at all

6:41 pm  
Sockhead answer ur phone!

Me  
7:45 pm  
I'm sorry, Eddy, I was studying.

7:46 pm  
I don't know who the bottle belongs to.

Eddy  
7:46 pm  
But do u think it was kevins tho?

Me  
7:47 pm  
I don't think so.

Eddy  
7:48 pm  
? so what DO u think?

Me  
7:50 pm  
It can be just anything. Either someone our age drank it, passed by my house in the middle of the night and just threw it away. Or it could belong to an adult passing by as well.

Eddy  
7:51 pm  
uh hello! We live in a col desack surrounded by a field n woods! No1 just PASSES by here! I still think some1 put it there to frame u

Me  
7:51 pm  
It's *cul-de-sac, and no; no one is framing me. That's ridiculous.

Eddy  
7:52 pm  
Ok ok lets forget about it then

7:52 pm  
hey! I wonder what Kevin does at Nazzs. Wanna go over there n spy on them?

7:53 pm  
Didnt u have that telly scope?

.

"Oh, what the…" Edd sighed while massaging his temples.

If it wasn't enough that Eddy's spelling really got on Edd's nerves; now he wanted to do exactly what Edd wanted to do, but Edd was the one supposed to do all the right decisions. He couldn't let Eddy talk him into doing this, though he was on the verge of considering it himself already.

.

Me  
7:55 pm  
No. We can ask Nathalie tomorrow.

Eddy  
7:55 pm  
We? Are u coming to the party?

Eddward's thumb trembled a little as he pushed send, and the text with the short "yes" reached Eddy's phone. Eddy started bombarding him with texts like "THANK YOU" and "IT'S GOING TO BE FUN" and other things like that. All Edd could think of, was how he wanted to check how friendly Nazz and Kevin were going to be to each other at the party. He wasn't sure if Kevin was going as well, but why wouldn't he?

"Well, that settles it." Edd mumbled to himself. "I'm actually a desperate, pathetic stalker psycho."

He shrugged, and sat down in Full Lotus on the floor. Meditation and yoga always seemed to calm his nerves.

 **Kevin**  
The night with Nazz turned out to be kind of fun. At least nice, if anything. Kevin and Nazz had been catching up – a lot – and talked about everything that had happened to them in the past couple of years. She opened up about everything in her life; her mother's death included. Kevin had never actually asked anyone about it, and never knew any details; he just knew that she was dead and that was it.

"How are you taking it now? I mean…" Kevin started. "I know that it was your mom and all – I could never imagine the feeling of losing mine – but did it ever… get better?"

"It gets better, it does. I think it took me about a month before I stopped crying." Nazz truthfully said. "I still think about her daily, but I can smile at our memories now; something I couldn't in the beginning."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Nazz smiled at him. "I'm just glad that I had her and got to know her; she was the greatest mother alive." She nodded, thoughtful. "I know that you don't want to open up as much as I am right now-"

"You're right about that."

"Nothing about your dog?"

"No."

"Your dad?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why you punched Double D yesterday?" Kevin moaned. "Okay! It's alright! Let's talk about something else."

Kevin sighed. He knew that Nazz only meant well; but he could never see himself talking about his feelings like this with anyone. He wanted to – he really did – but he didn't trust her enough yet to reveal his heart's innermost emotions… if he had any.

He scoffed. "It's alright, Princess." He cringed a little, but thought that it was only a nickname now as he didn't mean it in any degrading way. "... sorry." He surprised himself by saying anyway.

"It's okay." Said Nazz. "You wanna watch a movie or something? Or you wanna go home?"

"What time is it?"

Nazz looked at the clock above her bed, behind Kevin. "It's eleven o'clock. Wow, you've been here for four hours. You must be exhausted."

"Yeah. Maybe it's time for me to pass the fuck out, already." Kevin mumbled while scratching his forehead underneath his baseball cap; this day had been really long, and he hadn't slept very well on that couch last night. He stood up. "Uh, see you around- … Nathalie."

"Just call me 'Nazz', you dork." Kevin smiled back like a moron. "Oh! Maybe we can hang out again tomorrow night?" she stood up as well, walked closer to Kevin and lowered her voice. "My dad will be away from tomorrow morning until Monday; so I'm having a party here tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure." Said Kevin. The whole team had always been invited to Nazz's parties, but Kevin had never gone to any of them.

"That'll be a first." Said Nazz as if she was finishing his thoughts. "Good night then, Kev. See ya!"

"Good night… Nazz."

.

.

.

The very next morning a wet tongue woke Kevin up. "Come on…" he groaned and pulled the covers over his face, but Honey started scratching and finally digging into the back of his hands through the blanket. "Okay, I'm up! You little monster…"

He sat up, put the dog on the floor and stood to dress in his black trackies and a dark grey so called wife-beater. The sun shone in through the blinds, and when he opened them he couldn't believe what he saw. It was a really beautiful summer day; it didn't rain for once, and the sidewalk outside his window was dry. For some reason he threw a glance over at the white house across to his with a smile, and then looked further down the cul-de-sac to the yellow house where Nazz lived. He chuckled. As he walked out of his down stairs bedroom he wondered what time it was, but he didn't really care. He felt so good this morning; it was really long ago he felt this satisfied with his life. It was a strange feeling, indeed.

"Good morning, honey." His mother said from the living room; she was folding the laundry on the coffee table. "You're up early! Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah. I actually did." Said Kevin, blushing a little from his mother's constant smiling. He couldn't stop himself from being caught up in her happiness.

"Wow, you're in such a good mood! Did something happen last night?"

"Uh, no… or…" he decided that he actually wanted to make his mother part of things; maybe it was due to what Nazz had told him about her own mother, and that life is too short for being a hormonal teenage jackass. "I was at Nazz's last night, catching up."

"You were at Nazz's!?" his mother exclaimed, she even stopped folding the laundry. "How cool is that? What's up with her nowadays?"

"She's fine. She's a cheerleader and is aiming to ace every class before the graduation."

"Wooow… Nazz Van Bartonshmeer. That is something."

"It's actually Fitzgerald now." Kevin told Mrs. Barr about Nazz's mother, and why they'd changed their last name.

"Of course, I knew that…" Mrs. Barr said. "I'm happy for you, Kevin. She's a nice girl."

"Yeah."

"Soooo… did you just hang out or… was it a, you know?"

"It wasn't a date." Kevin sighed. He finally grew bored of the subject. "Do you want me to help with anything? Where's Calvin?"

"He wanted to go with your father to the grocery store, but they should be finished soon. Maybe you could make the breakfast table?"

"Sure." Kevin tried to smile, and then he walked to the kitchen. Wait- breakfast? He looked at the clock on the wall- holy shit… it was only five minutes past eight am. He must've slept really well this time since he usually woke up at noon on the weekends.

…

After a long afternoon walk with his dog Honey, Kevin started to get used to the idea of going to Nazz's party tonight. He had to admit; he just couldn't get that girl out of his head, not in a romantic way… he thinks… it had been a very long time since he had had a talk that good with anyone. Yeah, she was his friend, and he was going to show up on her party!

After dinner Kevin took a long hot shower and cleaned himself thoroughly – he felt stupid, as if he had never been invited to a party before! He went to parties almost every weekend, but this was the first time he was going to one in his own neighborhood; if you don't count that time Eddy Sampson wanted to be a big boy and throw a party at his house, and Kevin decided to crash it…

Kevin cringed from the memory as he scrubbed his shoulders with some left over shampoo; he and Cody Byrd had trashed that place that night and later they beat the crap out of Eddy who had just tried to kick them out. Kevin got surprised that he felt bad for what he did; was it because it was a long time ago he thought about it, and now remembered it differently, or had something changed his judgment of what he formally thought was fun?

He quickly rinsed the shampoo and soap off his body, sprayed himself with perfume and walked across the hallway down to his bedroom, and then he sat down his bed. He just stared at his window, leaned backwards until his back reached the wall. And there he sat and waited… and waited, with his head spinning and his heart racing.


	7. The party

I will start with replying to the comments, and the first one is from " **Guest** " who said "that's pretty good", and I had to mention it because it made me laugh so much! Not that the comment was bad or anything, I just love the simplicity of it so thank you! And I hope that the next chapter will be pretty good too : )  
 **Falling-Pixie** wrote a very long and honest comment, and I don't have a better reply than; thank you for believing that this story will be unique (at least that's what I think "doozy" means?) And I was so happy to receive that review, that I had to show it to a friend of mine and she was as excited as I was ^^  
 **Lemonlov3** mentioned Ed's character; and yes I agree! He's so lovable you just want to eat him :3

My new followers and favorites:  
 **Deathslostkitty** , **Falling-Pixie** , **Omen freak** , **Lemonluv3** , **KariNa20** , **NoFuckin'Logic** , **DoNotWantToLeave** , **ToryLuvv15** , **Mei Temura** , **The Aphrodite Prince** and **coolkid233441**

Thank you so much and welcome!

* * *

 **The party**

 **Eddward**  
The whole day went by faster than what Edd thought was even possible, and when it was time to get ready he felt his stomach turning inside out. The plan was that he was going to tell his parents that he was going to be over at Ed's tonight and play video games and watch movies as usual in his basement bedroom, but the truth was that they were going to climb out Eddy's window on the back in an hour, and sneak over to Nazz's house via the field behind their houses. He looked himself in the mirror in the upstairs bathroom before he left, and wondered if he had gone crazy. His left eye wasn't swollen anymore, but it was blacker than ever. He tried to comb his dark hair a little bit over it, but it was too short to hide more than his eye brow, and then he gave up and began walking down the stairs.

Edd had lied to his parents before, so telling them that he was going to spend the night at his friend's house wasn't a big deal at all, because the truth was that he _was_ going to hang out with Ed and Eddy at a friend's house, he just didn't say which friend.

"Are you home by twelve?" his father asked as Edd put his shoes on by the front door.

"Yes." Edd replied. That had been his curfew on the weekends the past couple of months – he had been compromising a lot with his mother to change it from ten to twelve; he just told her that none of his friends had a curfew at all on the weekends, and in return his mother wanted him to clean out the dishwasher and the washing machine once a week. Oh, all the grime and lint…

"Okay, have fun." His father said. "Your mom will be home by that time as well, so I will be in the basement if you need anything." His father had built a little man cave down there with a big screen TV, leather chairs and a mini bar where he had his beer bottle collection.

"Okay, father. See you tonight." Edd waved, took his light, dark blue jacket from the hook and hung it over his arm before he walked out of his house.

Wow, that had gone much smoother than expected, Edd thought to himself, and as he walked down the street towards Eddy's house his heart started pounding like crazy. He glanced quickly over at the grey house across to his, and then looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was only half past seven, but the first couple of cars stood parked on the cul-de-sac outside Nazz's home. He quickened his steps as he felt sweat pearling on his back, and when he reached Eddy's house which was pink, the front door flung open and Eddy waved at him to hurry up.

"Come on, dude! Your mom can see you!"

"She's at the hospital." Edd told him but hurried inside anyway. "And my father went down to the basement when I left." He sniffed the air as he felt like something was burning inside his nostrils and throat. "Oh, what the he- Eddy, is that you?"

"It's the cologne my brother gave me for Christmas. Don't you just love it?"

"Love it? My eyes are watering!"

"This is what a _man_ smells like, Sockhead! Get used to it."

"And what are you wearing?"

Edd took a good look at Eddy. The blue checkered shirt collar that perked up under a red V-neck did not go well with his light blue baggy jeans, Edd suspected that it was his big brother's old worn out jeans. And what was worse was that he had put so many products in his hair that it looked rather greasy. And that stench from his brother's cologne was just sickening!

"What? Doesn't it look good?"

Edd thought for a few seconds to fraise how he could critique his friend without hurting his feelings. "Well…"

But the door opened before he could think of anything to say. "Oh, hi, guys." Said Ed and walked in.

Double D raised his eyebrows; even Ed looked more proper than Eddy did – a white, black and grey striped sweatshirt with a high collar, to a pair of black jeans which looked new. "Did you go shopping for the party?" he asked; it just seemed so out of character for Ed to do something like that.

"Uh, no… My mom gave me these on my birthday."

"Your birthday was five months ago. Why haven't I seen these clothes before?"

Ed shrugged, then he looked at Eddy with a big grin on his face. "Looking good, Eddy." He gave him a thumbs up.

Eddy's face turned red. "Oh, shut up!" he growled and stormed into his parent's' bedroom closest to the hallway.

…

While Ed watched TV in the living room, Double D tried to convince Eddy to open the door that he had locked from the inside to his parents' bedroom. A few minutes later he unlocked, and Edd walked in. Eddy walked back to the bed and sat down, angrily looking down on his feet. Edd knew it; he had hurt his friend's feelings, and now he had to clean up the mess before it was too late.

"I am sorry for what I said, Eddy." He said heartfelt. "What I meant is that those colors together are sort of indiscreet, and that cologne _does_ smell good, but it's a little bit overwhelming. Maybe you could put on… a little less."

"I'm not mad at you, Sockhead." Eddy mumbled. "I'm not mad at Ed, either. He didn't know. I just needed to get away and cool down." He looked up at Double D with seriousness in his yellow-brown eyes. "Something's wrong with me, right?"

"What do you mean?" Edd sat down on the bed next to Eddy.

"Come on. Everybody knows that my fuse is shorter than what's normal. My temper is so bad that it scares me sometimes. Heck, I wasn't even mad at the two of you; I'm just angry because I felt my heart starting to pound extra hard! I'm angry because something is changing inside my body; it's like a monster trying to eat itself out."

Edd understood what he was talking about. "Well, you do have your own way of handling the transition between different emotions, but I don't think that you should feel bad for it." He tried his hardest to make his friend feel better about himself. "I know it scares you, and I know that these sharp turns make you exhausted and tired. It's called hypertension, and if you really want to control your temper a little better, then maybe you could see a doctor about it? There's nothing wrong with you, it's just your blood pressure, I think. I'm not a doctor, so don't take my words for the truth. If you want; I can help you get an appointment? Just to see if they can help you, or else we will try something else."

"Thanks." Eddy whispered. Edd heard that this conversation was a bit awkward for Eddy, but hopefully he would take in the words as helpfulness, and not as critique. "Okay, I'm finished being a cry baby." Eddy stood up and went for the door. "You will come with me to my room and pick out an outfit for me. I look ridiculous."

"Sure, Eddy." Edd followed him but put a hand on Eddy's shoulder when they walked past the bathroom. "But first you need to wash those products out of your hair."

…

One hour later Eddy looked more handsome than what Ed was ever used to. He didn't think that his friend was ugly or something before this, but with the help from the friend who was the most fashionable in the trio – Eddy looked _really_ good when he was finished with him. Double D had found an ivory V-neck in the far back of Eddy's closet with a yellow t-shirt underneath, and a pair of dark blue jeans. They were a little bit long in the legs, but Edd was fast with his fingers and sewed them shorter in a matter of minutes. The white color on the shirt, and the yellow t-shirt underneath it, really brought out the color in Eddy's eyes.

"I'm astonished." Double D said when he backed away after fixing Eddy's hair. "I'm actually really good at this."

"Yeah, you should become a make-up artist." Said Ed who waited for them by Eddy's window which they were going to escape through; loud music was heard through the neighborhood – Nazz's party had started. Ed's eyes were sparkling, and both Edd and Eddy knew where this conversation was heading. "Or one of those people who dress the actors into monsters in monster movies. And then you can make me into a monster. You know that swamp monster from the movie "The swamp monster"? That make-up looks sick as fu-"

"Shut up about your monster movies, Monobrow!" Eddy laughed. "So, really? I look good?" he asked turned to Edd again.

"The mirror is behind you."

Eddy turned around and watched himself in the mirror. His forehead wrinkled a little and he perched his lips. "Are you sure about the white shirt, though? It's very… bright."

"It makes your eyes brighter as well. Dark colors make them look dark, and bright colors make them look a little more yellowish. Don't you see it?"

"Yeah, but is yellow a nice color to start with?" he laughed nervously. "Isn't it weird? I haven't noticed that they were _this_ yellow before tonight. I've always thought they were light brown."

"You look good, Eddy. I swear." Double D persuaded.

"Would… would Nathalie look at me twice?"

This was the first time Eddy mentioned Nazz in that way. Eddward already knew that Eddy had started to like Nazz again, so he was prepared for this question. "Any girl would look at you twice, _especially_ Nathalie."

"Oh… okay, good. So… are we ready? Ya wanna take a shot before we go?" Eddy asked Edd and Ed.

"You have that vodka bottle?"

"Yeah, Nathalie came over this afternoon and gave it to me…" Eddy's face turned darker and his eyes roamed around the room.

"I don't think that it's a very good idea to drink alcohol tonight…" Edd said. "There's going to be jocks at that party, and I think that we should be sober for this so that we know what's up at any time. Maybe we can drink next time?"

"What if there won't be a next time?"

"If you play your cards right tonight – being yourself – then I'm sure that someone will invite you again."

"Maybe you're right as usual, Sockhead." Eddy looked at himself one last time in the mirror. "Are we ready then? What are we waiting for?"

They snuck out Eddy's bedroom; not that his parents were home and could bust them; but if anyone saw them leave Eddy's house and enter Nazz's, they would be in so much trouble that they were going to be grounded until they were forty. The three Eds had not thought this through though. The lane reached from the road behind the houses and then stopped behind Ed's house, so after they reached Ed's house they'd have to walk on the field the rest of the way to Nazz's. And since it had been raining for almost a week straight, the field was so full of mud that they sank several inches down in it.

"Not my shoes!" Eddy shrieked and tried to fold the tall grass down to make himself a dry path.

"Why can't we walk through the backyards?" Ed asked. He seemed unconcerned about his own shoes and pants that were now ruined. That was that with his nice new jeans.

"Because; that is Jimmy's house, and if his parents see us, they will tell _your_ parents, and then mine, and then Double D's." Said Eddy. "This is fucking quicksand, I swear…"

"We have to stay out of sight from the houses." Eddward moaned as he took the lightest steps to not sink too far down into the mud. "This was such a bad idea, Eddy."

"No, we're fine. We just leave the shoes on the porch and nobody will ever notice."

"If you say so, Eddy."

When they finally got to Nazz's house the boys were exhausted after pulsing through the muddy field for over five minutes. On the bright side; this was a great work out for his thighs and calves, Edd thought to himself, trying to get something positive out of this. He felt good about himself for going through all of this for the sake of his friends, but then he was reminded of the real reason of why he wanted to go to Nazz's party tonight; he wanted to spy on her and Kevin. He gasped; he had forgotten all about that and felt dumb for going this far only because of jealousy.

"What?" Eddy asked. They climbed through a hole with a loose plank in Nazz's fence and walked across her backyard. Music was heard from the inside of her house and people were talking loudly and were laughing.

"No, I just… there's so many people in there."

"I know, right? This party must be the biggest one since forever."

"Imagine what it's going to be like in three weeks." Said Ed.

"Yeah, we're _not_ going to _that_." Said Eddward.

"Talk for yourself, Double D." Eddy's eyes shone as they got closer to the house as if this was his dream coming true. They walked up the stairs to the porch, took their shoes off and hid them in a box with gardening tools, and looked through the window to the living room. "Okay, here goes nothing." Eddy tapped on the window glass with his knuckles.

Nazz, who was just passing the window in the living room, saw the Eds and beamed towards them. She opened the back door. She actually gave Eddy an extra-long look before she shook her head and said: "Hey, guys! I'm so glad that you came!" she gave them all a tight hug and let them in. "Did anyone see you?"

"No, we made it unnoticed." Eddy replied.

"Oh, no! Your pants, Ed. They're ruined." Nazz pointed at Ed's pants that had mud all the way up to his ankles.

"Yeah… Can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, it's that way." She pointed towards the hallway. "I'm so sorry. But you two seem unharmed." Nazz looked at Edd's and Eddy's pants.

"Only our shoes got dirty." Eddy said. "But we left them outside."

Eddward shyly looked around the room and tried not to catch any eye contact from the curious people looking at the newcomers. He wanted to see if Kevin was there, but he couldn't see him in the living room; maybe he was somewhere else in the house.

"That's lucky. Oh! Welcome to my party by the way. Make yourselves at home. Talk to people, have fun, and thank you for coming! I'm going to let someone start the barbecue up soon. I have no idea how-"

"I'll do it!" Eddy was quick to try and win some extra points from Nazz.

"That's really awesome of you, Eddy! Thanks! The grill is outside. I will leave you to that then… What is going on?"

They all heard angry and loud voices through the loud pop music coming from the hallway, and Nazz wasn't late to walk towards them to see what was happening, and when they heard Ed's voice, both Edd and Eddy followed her.

As they reached the hallway the voices got louder, and they saw that Ed and that Cody Byrd guy was yelling at each other, Ed over a head taller than Cody.

"Hey! Stop it, both of you!" Nazz got in between them and tried to make them move away from each other, but they were both too stubborn to take an inch of a step back. Eddward thought that they looked like two pit bulls furiously staring at each other, and just one word would trigger them to fly at each other.

"Ed, calm down." Eddy said wide eyed; none of them had ever seen him this angry before, and they knew that if he really fought someone one day; he would floor that person with only one punch.

"What happened, Ed?" Double D asked carefully.

"He pushed me." Ed said through clenched teeth; he didn't blink once and kept the intense eye contact with Cody.

"Because you got mud on my socks, moron!" Cody Byrd shouted.

"He was on his way to clean it off. You can borrow socks from my dad." Said Nazz, still standing between the guys.

"It's the principle! He needs to learn how to watch where he's going! How stupid are you?"

"I'm not stupid." Ed growled.

Eddwdard knew that it was only a matter of seconds now, so he squeezed himself in between them, back to back with Nazz, and looked up on his tallest friend in the eyes. "Of course you're not stupid, Ed! Don't listen to him. But please, please calm down before anything happens. Please, don't fight him. Let's just go, okay? It was a bad idea coming here."

Ed finally relaxed his shoulders and looked at Double D. "Okay."

"You're good, big guy." Eddy puffed and patted on Ed's arm.

Nazz and Eddy backed away, as did Double D, but before any of them had time to react – Byrd scoffed, charged his arm and readied to punch Ed in his face. But just before he hit him, another hand grabbed his fist and stopped it midair.

They all looked at the ginger haired guy with a red baseball cap who held Cody's fist in his big hand. He squeezed it once, making Byrd grimace and almost get down on one knee out of sheer pain.

 **Kevin**  
"Which hand am I holding, Byrd?" Kevin asked him in a calm tone on his voice. Cody whimpered as he squeezed it again. He was unbelievably sick and tired of Byrd right now. "Which hand, did I ask, am I holding? Is it your left hand, Byrd? Or is it your right? This hand, which I'm holding right here, Byrd, is your right hand, and God forbid if it gets injured now so close to the game. Isn't that right? Well, answer me, for crying out loud."

Kevin twisted Cody's hand around, squeezed it even harder and started bending his wrist backwards while still twisting. Cody started screaming, got down on his knees; as if the pain was weighing him down; and proceeded to whimper. He had his eyes shut and grimaced with his whole face when he whispered: "That would be unfortunate…"

"I didn't hear that, Byrd, you really need to speak up."

Cody screamed again as Kevin clenched, and put his left knuckles in his mouth because of the pain. Sweat started pearling on his forehead, the panic made his knees shake. He said a little louder: "That would be unfortunate, I said. Please, let go…"

"I will never see you mess with Hill again, am I clear, Byrd? He's a team mate, and if I see you do anything like this ever again, then I will fucking kick your ass. You mess with my team, you pay the price. Got it?"

"Yes…"

"Can't hear you, Byrd." Kevin chuckled as he squeezed Cody's hand again. This was more of a game than anything for Kevin and he loved having this kind of control over another person.

"YES! Yes, I get it! It won't happen again!"

"Appreciate it." Kevin let go of Cody's right hand, and reached for his left. He helped him up on his feet and then patted him on his back. "We're good. Now let's party."

Cody didn't dare throwing Kevin an ugly eye; he just walked past him and left the house without another word.

Kevin waited for the door to close before he turned to Nazz with an apologetic expression on his face. "I'm sorry if…"

"No, Kev, that was _awesome_!" Nazz exclaimed. "You were so fast to grab him! It was like watching a super hero movie or something. Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeah, I didn't twist it _that_ hard."

"He'll be fine. Hey, Eddy is going to start up the grill soon. So you can just hang out for a bit, and we'll eat in an hour or so." Nazz waited for Kevin to nod. "Okay, come on, Eddy, I'll show you where everything is."

Ed Hill looked confused, but nodded at Kevin as if to say "thank you", and before Nazz left with the three Eds in her tow, he caught a glance from the smart one in the trio who looked at him in a kind of curious way. He looked a bit scared, with shiny, wide eyes and stiff shoulders. His black eye looked worse than ever, because of the color; but it wasn't swollen anymore so he could blink again at least. Eddward kept the eye contact with Kevin a little longer than what was normal for him, so Kevin couldn't determine if he looked scared or not. He wanted to call him back and ask him about his weird behavior, but he disappeared around the corner into the next room only a few seconds later.

Kevin stood quietly in the hallway for a few seconds more before he changed his mind about this whole party thing. For the first time in years he felt vulnerably alone, and the only people he actually liked just a tiny bit just left him, all by himself, in that cold hallway. They were just too different from each other; of course Nazz liked the Eds more than she liked Kevin! They were kind, polite and reliable. What did Kevin have? He was just a shell of his former self, which wasn't that good to begin with either.

All of a sudden he felt useless; he felt like the most residual person in the whole world. No one actually wanted him here. Either they were afraid of him, hated him, or they invited him to their party because they pitied him.

"I'm such a loser…" Kevin mumbled angrily to himself.

He walked towards the door, opened it and almost ran into the youngest of the Kanker sisters; May Kanker. She was in the same year as Kevin in Peach Creek High, and a cheerleader in Nazz's squad.

"Oh, my gosh! Sorry, Kevin!" May said and stopped dead in her tracks not to run into him as well.

He had never really talked to her before, but said: "No, it's-" but he was cut off.

"Stop apologizing, May. It was totally Plough chins fault. Out of our way, loser." Marie Kanker, who was the middle sister, snapped and pushed Kevin aside. Even though she was very small and petite, her arms were strong enough to make Kevin lose his balance for a second. She didn't have her signature short blue hair; now it was even shorter and black and crew cut on one side of her head.

This was the first time in several years Kevin saw the two older Kanker sisters. When Lee Kanker, the oldest one, graduated from Peach Creek High (the year before Kevin attended, the same year as Rolf graduated as well) they all moved out of their mother's trailer to a small house in the outskirts of the city, all the way on the other side of the Jawbreaker factory. Apparently they started a whole new life there; Lee started working as a waitress at a nice restaurant over there, and when Marie graduated two years later she took a job as a car mechanic apprentice where her boyfriend's father worked. May, the youngest, still goes to school, and the only time Kevin had seen any of her older sisters had been when Lee with her big, ginger hair gave May a ride to school every morning.

Seeing them today, this close to him, made Kevin fall back into nostalgia; he remembered being a little intimidated of them, and really just wanted to sneak out of there without another word. He remembered Lee being very strong even though she sure didn't look like it, but he didn't want to take that chance.

"I was just leaving." Kevin murmured and stepped aside to let them in.

"Already? But we just came here." Said Lee with a veiling voice. "Why don't you stay a few moments with us?" she turned to her sisters. "Holy crap, puberty hit him like a truck, didn't it? He's gotten hella hot, right? And so tall, and strong… Why haven't you said anything, May?"

Kevin started to blush and sweat. She actually talked about him as if he was a child, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"I don't know." Said May and shrugged; she both looked a little shy but at the same time unconcerned about Kevin, as if she didn't care about him at all. But why would she?

"Well, if you'd told us then we would've been here more often, right, Marie?"

"Dude, I have a boyfriend much hotter than this shrimp." Marie said mercilessly. She began spinning her nose piercing between her fingers.

All Kevin wanted was to tell them off like he would've done normally, but the Kanker sisters made him so nervous that he didn't know what to say anymore.

"Well, I dig him." Lee got closer to Kevin who was only a few inches taller than her. "Wanna be my date for the night, handsome?"

"Err…" his back felt like he had been sleeping in a puddle of ice cold water.

"Great. Let's find me a drink." Lee slapped Kevin's butt and then dragged him into the living room where the music came from. "Lee Kanker is in the house. Where's the booze, losers?"

Everyone looked at her and Kevin with shock in their eyes, even Ed, Edd and Eddy who stood on the porch turned to them with wide watering eyes. If it wasn't enough that Kevin Barr, the big bully on the block, was there for the first time – now the notorious Kanker sisters stood next to him in Nazz's living room. He could almost smell the fear.

Nazz opened the back door to greet the newcomers. "Oh, hi, guys! Lee and Marie, it was ages ago." She looked like she'd rather not let them stay, but since Nazz was the nicest person alive she didn't say anything about it. "I'm glad you came, May." She told the only sister she had actually invited.

Kevin couldn't turn around to look at her; Lee had her right hand glued to the back of Kevin's jeans and squeezed his cheek. He was paralyzed; he just didn't know what to do. This was such a weird situation to be in. He looked at Nazz who had noticed what was going on behind his back, and squinted with her eyes, but then she looked at Lee again.

"We've just started up the barbeque; dinner will be served in an hour. If I knew that you'd come I would've bought more hamburgers; but we'll make it work!" she smiled, and then started walking towards the porch again. "Welcome to my party!"

"Is that who I think it is?" Lee let go of Kevin's ass and followed Nazz out on the porch. May and Marie walked past him as well, as if they were all moths being hypnotized by one of those electric insect lights.

Kevin exhaled; now they were going to terrorize the Eds instead of him.

 **Eddward**  
"Eddy! What are we going to do?" Eddward asked in panic.

"I don't know, dude!" Eddy replied with cracking voice.

"Relax, guys. They're cool." Said Nazz, but she looked a little worried as well, not knowing how this was going to play out.

Lee Kanker was the first out on the porch, with a big, curly ginger head and a wide grin on her face. She only had eyes for Eddy, and Edd cursed himself for giving him such a salient make-over before getting here. Eddy actually looked irresistible almost even to him, though he was careful to make Eddy look like something a woman would prefer rather than a man.

Second out was May Kanker; with long, blonde hair and long front teeth. But she only glanced at Ed once and then blushing looked away while twirling a lock of hair between her fingers.

And last out was the now black haired Kanker sister; Marie. She had big, baggy camo pants and a black crop top that showed her slender figure, a shiny piercing in her nose and black leather bracelets with sharp, spikey rivets on each wrist. She went straight for Eddward with a surprised look on her face. "Now we're talking." She said and stopped right in front of him, looking like she was a vampire finally finding that one human with the most delicious blood. She was so close Edd could smell her perfume. "I had forgotten how sweet and innocent you look, Double D. We will have to talk about that black eye later. And now you're finally old enough."

"O-o-old enough for w-what?" Edd asked with trembling voice. His whole body was shaking and his legs felt weak.

"To let me make you a man, of course, silly bum!" she giggled and started fondling with some of his hair poking out from under his ski hat. Edd quickly and automatically put both hands on the top of his head in case she was going to pull the hat off. "I hear that sexy voice of yours went through puberty as well. You're eighteen now, right?"

"He's only sixteen, Marie." Said May.

"Well, that's old enough." The black haired Kanker sister backed away to look at him. "Wow, you're really tall, but you've always been."

At the same time Lee snuck up on Eddy, she didn't seem to know anything about boundaries or personal space as she almost pulled his shirt off because of her eager hands all over his body. "Have you ever been with an older woman, Eddy?" she asked him flirtatiously. "Or are you still a virgin? Well, that's even better."

Eddy's face and neck was so red now that it looked like he had been burned by the sun. Every time Lee tried to pull off his shirt or pull down his pants he corrected his clothes and tried to pry her hands off of his body. It looked like he was fending off a swarm of bees.

"Hey, girls, I need to have my chefs back for a moment." Said Nazz. "There's beer in the fridge in the garage, feel free to take whatever you want."

"Thanks." Lee said turned to Nazz, and then she looked at Eddy again and winked. "I'll come back for you."

"See you, sailor." Said Marie and blew a kiss to Edd.

May followed her sisters, still blushing.

"That girl… I swear…" Eddy growled embarrassed while he corrected his clothes and fixed his messy hair.

"Let me…" said Edd and helped him with the hair. "That was a ride and a half back in time."

"I hate them!" mumbled Eddy.

"That was very awkward, indeed. I hope they won't get worse with alcohol in their systems."

Eddy turned to Ed who stood by the reeling. "Why didn't they almost rape _you_?" he snapped as if it was Ed's fault.

"I don't know." Said Ed, tapping his fingertips together with a nervous expression on his face. It looked like he was sweating.

"Hey, what's wrong with ya?"

"He must be relieved that May wasn't all over him like Lee and Marie. Right, Ed?" asked Nazz.

"Uhh…"

"What is it, Ed?" Double D asked.

"I- uh… I need to use the bathroom." Ed hurried inside the house.

"What's wrong with him?" Eddy asked.

"I don't know." Double D replied. "He's behaving really weird nowadays."

Nazz gasped and started waving her hands. "Isn't it obvious, you guys?" she asked them and pointed towards the door where Ed had just disappeared through. "Don't you see it? Are you blind?"

"See what?" Eddy asked.

"Both May and Ed blushed when they saw each other. I know that girl, and she has been behaving like that every time the football team was around. I've asked her about it but she's been quiet like a mouse. Now I finally understand-" she lowered her voice and Edd and Eddy got closer to hear her whisper: "- May is in love with Ed, and I think that Ed likes her too. I mean, why else did he run away when you asked about her?"

"Ed likes May? No way!" Eddy scoffed in disbelief.

But Edd remembered something. "He has been really secretive about what he's been up to after lunch for a month now. Do you think that he has been meeting up with May somewhere in school?"

"Oh, my gosh, you're right!" Nazz shrieked. "I've been looking for her on the lunch breaks as well, but she has been nowhere to be found!"

"That explains it then." Edd felt warmth inside of him – if Ed could find love in one of the Kanker sisters, then maybe _he_ -

"You're both insane." Said Eddy. "Ed knows better than to fall for that psychopath."

"Excuse me?" Nazz raised her eye brows. "Who are you calling a psychopath?"

"May Kanker, of course."

"Why are you saying that? May Kanker is the sweetest girl I know. It makes me kinda pissed off that you're calling her that, Eddy."

"It's okay!" Edd stepped in front of Eddy before he could say something in return – he knew that if Edd angered Nazz now he may never have a chance with her again. "Eddy, can we talk? We'll be back soon. Maybe you could get the hamburgers ready for us?" He told Nazz and dragged Eddy down the stairs and didn't stop until they reached the fence. "Finally Nathalie looks at you twice, and you pick a fight with her?"

"But she's crazy if she thinks that a Kanker is _sweet_! Hello! It's the Kanker sisters we're talking about!"

"Well, now it seems that one of them is Nathalie's friend. Why are you trying to make her choose between you and May? Because honestly, Eddy, I really think that she is going to choose May. Girls work like that, you know."

"How do _you_ know how girls work?" Eddy asked in a _I'd-like-to-see-_ you _-try-and-get-a-date-tonight_ -voice.

"I've been giving relationship advice for years now. I don't see myself as an expert or anything, but I know how strong the friendship is between two girls." Eddward saw Ed walking out on the porch with Kevin of all people in front of him, both with their arms full of bags of frozen hamburgers and buns. He swallowed, tried not to react to his heart banging against his ribcage. "If you want Nathalie to notice you, you need to apologize and be a lot nicer to May Kanker."

Edd had decided to help Eddy as much as he ever could; if Nazz started to like Eddy; then maybe there would be a slight chance that he could have Kevin all to himself.

 **Kevin**  
Kevin put all the bags of hamburgers and buns he could carry on the table on the porch. It was a big table with room for twelve people, though it wouldn't be big enough for everyone at the party. But most of them would be walking around anyway, so it was all good. After he had emptied his hands he took a few seconds before turning around; he knew that he had to talk to the Eds now, and he did not look forward to it.

Ed Hill, who carried almost double the amount that Kevin could fit in his arms, dropped everything on the same table and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I'm hungry." He just said.

"Yeah, me too, Hill." Kevin replied as he heard two other pair of footsteps walking up the wooden stairs to the porch. He turned around and froze; didn't know how to react to them. Should he say something sarcastic or should he try to be friendly?

But before he could think of anything to say the door opened again and Nazz joined them, holding five beer bottles in her hands. "Here you go, guys! Thank you so much for helping me."

"Oh… thanks, Nathalie…" Double D said as he caught the bottle she tossed him and read the label.

"Be cool… just this one…" Kevin heard Eddy Sampson mumble.

"Okay… Just this one… But won't I get intoxicated?" Double D whispered back.

"Of course not! You'll have to drink more than one bottle to get drunk. Just do it slowly."

"If you say so, Eddy."

Apparently Kevin was the only one hearing them because of all the noise the plastic bags made when Nazz started opening them all, and Ed drank the whole bottle in one gulp. Kevin looked at his own beer and started drinking from it. If Nazz really wanted him to stay then he would have to get wasted. He took another sip just to have something to do; he really didn't want to talk. He stood right next to Eddy and Eddward on that porch… it was so awkward to be this close to them without calling them names or anything.

"Wow, Ed, that was fast. There's more in the fridge in the kitchen."

"Nathalie… um…" Double D asked when Ed disappeared. "Where did the Kankers go?"

"I don't know. They should be around somewhere." Said Nazz. "I didn't see them in the garage. Why?"

Edd looked at Kevin, jerked as he saw that Kevin was listening to them, and then nervously looked back at Nazz again. "I-I was just wondering."

Kevin took another sip on his beer.

Eddy emptied his bottle, and cleared his throat after Edd discreetly elbowed him. "Hey, what are ya doing?" he snapped at Edd, who gave him a significant glare. "Oh! Oh, I mean… I'm sorry, Nathalie, for what I said before."

Kevin had no idea what they were talking about, but asking them about it was the last thing he'd do right now.

"I forgive you, Eddy." Nazz gave him a crooked smile, and then she beamed. "Okay, the coal must be hot enough! Wanna start cooking the hamburgers?"

"Yeah, sure thing."

Kevin emptied his beer bottle and put it on the table behind him, and then he sat down on a chair and sighed. He felt so out of character, extremely misplaced; as if he was some exotic animal stuck in the big city. Neither did he know what to say nor what to do. He could just sit there and shut up, or he could somehow find a way to escape. Being around Nazz and the Eds was something he hadn't done in a long time, and seeing the Kanker sisters again was just too much. But oh, did Kevin have to eat his own words, when the back door opened again and Ed came stumbling out with several beer bottles in his arms, and a new guest following him.

"Hello there, fellow party people!" said Rolf Antonucci, a foreign college senior student living next to Eddward Vincent across to Kevin's house. But he was also the ex-best friend of Kevin; and he knew that Rolf would not leave him alone once he noticed him. "White bread! I don't believe it!" he gasped when he saw Kevin by the table.

Rolf took three big steps towards Kevin who slowly stood up, but halfway up Rolf grabbed him under his arms and pulled him into a tight hug. He was a head taller than Kevin.

"Hi, Rolf…" Kevin whispered under his breath while Rolf gave him a friendly pat on the back.

"Kevin hasn't answered Rolf's calls in years! Are you tired of old Rolfy?" It sounded like Rolf was much better at the language now than what he was when he first moved here six years ago.

"I don't know, Rolf…" he let Kevin go again and smiled at him. "Much has happened in four years, you know. We went to different schools and other stuff like that."

"Like what?" Rolf asked.

"Just… stuff…" Kevin's face started burning; he didn't know how to act towards his former best friend, let alone around people he didn't know that well.

"Ed!" Double D wheezed and gesticulated with his hands towards Rolf behind his back.

"What? Oh… Here you go, Rolf! Kevin?" Ed gave them both a bottle of beer and Kevin received it without hesitating. Once again Double D had saved his ass.

"Thank you, Ed boy, much appreciated." Said Rolf and opened the cap. "We have a lot to talk about, Kevin! Let's catch up."

…

The first hamburgers were done and the first group of people got their food. Eddy kept grilling them and Nazz kept serving them as they finished cooking. Double D watched them and talked about just anything, and Ed walked around, talked to people he didn't know but did a great job getting to know them. Time flew by as Rolf and Kevin caught up on what they've been doing since they hung out the last time on Kevin's fourteenth birthday party almost four years ago. After that summer, Rolf moved to campus at the Peach Creek University half an hour from the cul-de-sac, and Kevin told him about how he became the football captain his sophomore year and had won every game since the beginning. It was like they had never separated; Rolf was the same goofy guy with weird thoughts, plans and culture, and Kevin felt like he was thirteen again and hung out with all of his friends a normal summer night on the cul-de-sac. The only people missing were Jonny, Sarah and Jimmy; with both Sarah and Jimmy being too young to go to parties (though everyone here already were, but they were only fourteen years old), and Jonny being too rebellious to hang out with normal people like Nazz and her friends.

Once everyone had eaten their burgers, they started drinking again and some of them started up a camp fire in the middle of Nazz's backyard – with her permission of course. Rolf and Kevin took a seat in the circle that was forming around the fire as more people joined in, while still talking just about everything. He didn't notice that Nazz took a seat next to him on the grass and joined the conversation.

The sun was setting and the sky turned pink, then orange and then blood red; the time must be around nine already. It was a really long time ago Kevin had had this nice of a time with other people, and he drank his beer much slower than what he normally did at parties. This was just a calm gathering amongst friends; he realized that almost no one from the football team had been invited; only the calmest and nicest ones – the messiest school mates stayed uninvited (Byrd must've tried to crash it before Kevin got there, but he left hours ago).

As it got darker people huddled closer to each other and formed small groups around the fire, and Nazz jumped closer to Kevin, now touching his left leg and arm. "It's kinda cold, don't you think?" she asked him when Rolf left to fetch another beer in the garage.

"Nah, I'm not a wimp." Kevin said. "Why don't you get a jacket?"

Nazz was quiet for a few seconds before she said: "I'm just really comfortable here on the ground."

"Maybe that's it then; you're sitting on the cold grass in only shorts. Should I call Rolf to bring something for you to sit on?"

She was quiet a little longer. "N-no. I'm fine." She moved away from him and stared into the fire. "Forget it."

"Nazz… did I say something wrong?" Kevin whispered. He really didn't mean to upset her.

"No, it's nothing. Really." She hurried to say and smiled at him. She pulled out her phone from her pocket. "I'll message Rolf to bring a blanket from the couch."

"Okay…"

On her other side sat Eddy, and after Double D had elbowed him again he said: "Uh, here, you can take my shirt to sit on, Nathalie." He pulled it off and gave it to her.

"Th-thanks, Eddy." She said with wide eyes. "But it's gonna get stained from the grass. It's white." She tried to give it back.

"Don't worry about ruining it; I didn't like it anyway."

"Sit on his shirt, Nazz." Kevin assured her.

"Okay." She put the white shirt on the ground underneath her and sat on it. "Thank you, Eddy. That was really nice of you."

"No problems." Eddy said and blushed.

Kevin looked into the fire. He knew what Nazz had tried to do; though he'd never had a girlfriend before he knew exactly all the signs Nazz had given him – those were the signs almost every girl at the school had given him in these exact situations. He was just not interested in the girls on his school, and he wasn't really sure as of why. He had his suspicions, though, of why he had these trust issues, but he did everything in his power not to think about it. It was traumatic enough that he had to live with the memory… thinking about how it had changed him – or formed him – was more than enough for one person to feel. He just couldn't accept it.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Two months into his freshman year, Kevin snuck around the school corridors to try and avoid the football team. He had been doing this during the last couple of weeks; he was just so tired of how he was treated by his bullies – he couldn't even concentrate on school anymore. All he did in class was panicking about what was going to happen to him during the recess; and all he did at home was working out until he passed out. He almost didn't eat anymore, though he knew that he needed to eat a lot to get bigger and stronger; he just couldn't.

He found a door close to the locker rooms at the end of one of the corridors, and it said on a sign: " _Janitor Shortcut_."

Kevin wondered where that led to, and entered after he had looked around to make sure he wasn't followed. He had gotten highly paranoid since he started here. He quietly walked through the corridor which smelled like old glue, moisture, mold and dust. Some of the light bulbs were flickering; but he decided that he would prefer to walk into a janitor and even a ghost before running into Cheetah and his gang.

Kevin jumped and almost stumbled on his own feet as he heard something fall on the concrete floor behind him, and when he spun around to look, he only saw a broom that must've fallen due to the air flowing through this corridor. Kevin exhaled, turned around again and walked into a wall, but when he backed away and looked up, it wasn't a wall.

It was Cheetah.

Kevin sighed. He knew that he wasn't fast enough to run from Cheetah (hence his nickname; he was the fastest high school football player alive), and if he tried he would only get beaten even harder.

"Oh, hey, Kevin." Cheetah said preoccupied.

Kevin stopped breathing. Cheetah had never said anything in that voice before. He noticed that the bully was alone in this corridor, so maybe he wasn't that tough when his team mates weren't around. But still…

He started backing away, but Cheetah said: "I know this will sound weird, but I'm actually…" he sighed. "I'm sorry, okay? For everything I've done. I just…" he bit his lip and Kevin stopped walking backwards, shocked over this conversation. "I need to have my reputation on this school, and I've been trying to meet you alone and tell you all of this. You have no idea how bad I feel about hurting you. I mean, you're just a kid! It's the seniors' task to make the newcomers feel welcome and secure. But this is a dog eat dog world… You get it, right?"

"A dog eat- what?" Kevin whispered, still didn't believe what was happening.

"Everybody needs to fend for themselves on this school. I have no friends – those people you see me with every damn day? They're nothing! They're like sharks – they smell one drop of blood miles away, and if only one shark in the group stays behind instead of hunting with them; they'll kill that shark. Kevin, that shark is me. I have to hunt with them, or else they kill me."

"I thought that you were the leader?" Kevin forgot everything about being cautious, but he was lucky this time.

"I'm just the face outwards. I am the leader because I'm the captain, and I'm good looking. That's why they chose me; it doesn't mean that I'm the king in the group because of that; we just make people think that I am."

Kevin glanced behind him – someone must be sneaking up on him. This was just a prank, a scam, a trap; Cheetah and his followers would soon be beating him again like always, the others were just hiding. But it was silent and empty in the corridor behind him and behind Cheetah.

"It's only us, Kevin." Cheetah said as if he read his mind. "Look; from now on, I promise I won't hurt you for real. If you just give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not like them; then I won't tell anyone that you know the truth either. I swear that I will be the one always ' _beating you up_ ', but I won't do it for real. Do we have a deal?"

It sounded like a very good deal, but Kevin still couldn't believe it. "Deal." He said anyway. Not that he wanted to give Cheetah a second chance – he still knew that he was lying – but if it meant that he could sneak away just this once then he could give Cheetah anything he wanted for the moment.

"Okay… I will do my best, Kevin." Cheetah stepped aside to let Kevin through.

Kevin passed him slowly, any fast movement could trigger the captain, and when he was arms reach from the bully he fastened his steps until he reached the end of the corridor and ran the rest of the way to the bus stop where the bus already stood, waiting for him. Kevin climbed onto the bus and sat down on a seat in the far back, catching his breath after the sprint.

He still didn't believe what Cheetah had told him was the truth, but at least he got home unharmed today.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

He felt a shiver run down his spine though it wasn't cold outside. He felt lonely again, as if something was wrong with him, and it felt like every single one around this fire knew exactly what he was thinking about, as if they knew what he had gone through. But that was impossible; he hadn't told anyone about it. No one knew anything about his biggest secret; a secret he was going to take with him to his grave.

Rolf came back from the garage with the beer and Kevin started drinking faster. He knew that he shouldn't have let himself fall this deep into his haunting memories. Whenever this happened he always drowned himself in booze, and this night was not an exception.


	8. The kiss

Hello again, fellow Kevedd fans! I feel that I've been uploading the chapters pretty regurlarly these past couple of times! Every two weeks or so, and that's kinda good for being me, I think! I wish you the bestest weekend, and after I've thanked everyone that've liked and commented and started following me and my story; I will proceed with my Of dorks and jocks! Thank you all and have a nice day and weekend!

First I will reply to **Guest** who asked what's up with "Kevedd", since Kevin and Double D had no interactions in the series that suggested that they liked each other... well, this is a shipping, a fantasy, and I have no further explanation of it! I didn't really understand it in the beginning either. For me; I was googling fanart of Ed, Edd and Eddy because that's something I like, googling fanart of shows that I like; and I found this Kevedd community and thought... WHAT? Why Kevin and Edd? That's so random... But the more I looked at the pictures and read some of the fan fictions, the more I started to ship them - they are so adorable and hot together! I guess that's what other people thought too, and that they were just stumbling over this shipping by accident, and then got caught in the fandom. And that's it... sorry if this answer wasn't good enough for you, but that's all I can say about it (:  
And to my regular guest who've been following me from the beginning and who is a Swede just like me; **SvartaAnkan** ; thank you for all the comments! You are the best!  
 **SvartaAnkan** wrote yet another comment *.*, and I'm so happy about it! Thank you!

My favorite followers and favorite favorites!  
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Happy easter everyone :3

* * *

 **The kiss**

 **Eddward**  
The hypnotizing flares in front of him made Eddward's body relax in a way it only did during meditation. The warmth from the fire felt nice on his face, neck, arms and knees, and the soft buzz from all the people calmly chatting to each other around the fire started sounding like the ocean to his ears. He heard Ed talk to a guy from the football team on his left, and Eddy talked to Nazz on his right. They had become much flirtier to each other since their little dispute about May Kanker a few hours ago; Eddy seemed to know how to soften her up. Edd glanced at them from the corner of his eye; they were both leaning back on their elbows on the grass, as if they were looking at the stars as they chatted. Edd smiled to himself, maybe this was the night for Eddy, and maybe he was finally going to get his date with Nazz someday in the near future.

Next to Nazz, on her other side, sat Kevin, and he was facing straight forward into the fire as Rolf told him about the college he went to, and all the new stuff he had learned. Kevin looked distressed, as if he was thinking of something else and didn't really hear what Rolf was saying. But Edd understood that this was a huge conversion for poor Kevin; he was changing – and it showed. He had gotten much nicer to people since he gave Double D this black eye only two days ago; as if _that_ was the immediate reason he wanted to change. Then it was a good thing, Edd thought to himself, he was actually happy that Kevin had punched him. He took one for the team, so to say.

He looked to his left again, and noticed that Ed was blushing and looked really nervous about something. Edd leaned closer to him to peek around the fire, and there she was; May Kanker. She looked as shy as Ed did, not daring to throw him any glances, and Double D knew that he had to help his friend out.

"Hey, Ed." He tried carefully, but with a friendly smile.

"Uh… Yeah… What?" Ed finally looked back at him, with round eyes and a drop of sweat running down his right temple.

"Why don't you talk to her?"

"Talk to who?"

"You know…" Edd looked around the fire again, and then at Ed. "May. I think this is your moment."

"You think so?"

"I really do think so. Or, I know so. Look at her." They both looked at May now. "She's very pretty tonight, isn't she? And I actually think she's waiting for you to take the first step."

"She- she is?" Ed looked more nervous than ever.

"Yes."

"But what should I- I don't know what to say- I…"

"Calm down, Ed. Just walk up to her, say that you want to tell her something and bring her somewhere quiet, somewhere people won't eavesdrop on you."

"Then what?"

"Then you tell her how you feel."

…

"Then what?"

"I… I guess you can kiss her, if she feels the same; but I'm sure she does. You'll know what to do, I promise. It comes naturally."

"I don't… I can't!"

"Yes, you can. I believe in you. She's waiting for you."

Ed gulped, took a deep breath and then nodded to himself. He stood up, walked around the circle of people and then stopped once he reached May. She looked up at him and blushed, and then she smiled a toothy smile. Ed scratched the back of his neck, glanced at Edd and then back at May, and he crouched down to ask her to follow him.

May nodded, still smiling, and stood up to follow Ed to the living room. Edd's heart made a skip of happiness as he turned to the fire again.

"Is he going to do it?" Nazz, who had paused her conversation with Eddy to watch Ed and May, asked with bright eyes.

"I think so." Edd said and shrugged as he smiled.

"Good for him." Eddy scoffed; he looked like a proud father.

Nazz let out a deep and longing sigh. "That is so romantic… I wish that would happen to me."

"I'm sure it will, Nathalie." Said Double D. Eddy looked straight into the fire; his face turned a few shades darker.

Eddward sighed too, but he felt more and more desolate rather than yearning. He looked at Kevin again, who stubbornly kept staring at the flames in the fire with eyebrows so low his eyes were almost hidden in shadows. Edd had an eerie feeling about Kevin's face; Rolf had gotten up (supposedly he went to the bathroom) so he was all alone in his own thoughts. He couldn't even imagine what was going on inside Kevin's head right now; around people he almost didn't know and with that look on his face.

Okay. Eddward decided to swallow his pride, stood up, brushed off his jeans from grass and walked over to the captain of the football team. Kevin didn't look up once, but that was fine seeing Edd almost tripped on his own feet when he sat down next to Kevin; he wanted to make it look like he did it cool and casually, but failed due to his clumsiness. He really hoped Kevin didn't notice…

"Err… Kevin?" Edd tried. He wanted to sound confident, but his nerves let him down.

"What? Oh." Kevin jerked a little, and got even more surprised once he saw who'd talked to him. "Hey. What's up?"

"Good, I'm good. Hey, I wanted to thank you for what you did… I mean, yesterday- and today, um…" Edd took a quick deep breath before he continued. "It was really cool of you to give Ed a ride from football practice yesterday, and that you stopped the fight between him and Cody Byrd; that you stood up for him."

"Well, yeah… of course; he's a team mate. Can't have them getting themselves hurt before the end games, yeah?"

"Yeah." Edd agreed, his thoughts spun furiously around his head when thinking of something else to talk about; but Kevin beat him to it.

"Maybe I should apologize, now that we're clearing our consciences; I'm… sorry that I punched you before. That was really shitty of me." Kevin looked at Edd and cringed a little; it was obvious that he wasn't that used to apologizing for things he did. "And for what I said in the corridor yesterday about you and Sampson. I don't really know why I did it; I was just being immature."

"It's already forgiven. And thank you." Said Edd.

Kevin gave him a crooked smile, and then looked into the fire again with a deep sigh. Edd glanced at him; his ginger hair was as bright as the fire in front of them, and his eyes sparkled from the light. Eddward had watched Kevin a lot of times before; but never really this close. Though Kevin Barr looked like a rugged rebel (and acted like one); he had an extremely beautiful profile (he could just make out the long scar starting from Kevin's eyebrow, going through the temple and then continue to his ear under his cap) and a remarkably big heart – he just had to persuade _himself_ that he did.

Something changed this on the edge of being a perfect night; ruined every little piece of it. Bright light beamed into and flooded the backyard from the driveway, and everybody stopped talking to see what was happening. An enormous Jeep stood on the driveway; Edd couldn't see what color it was; with the head lights pointed at the people around the fire.

"Who is that?" Nazz asked.

"Do you know anyone with a G-wagon?" Eddy asked her.

"No…" said Nazz and stood up. "No one from our school owns one. I'll go over there and ask what their problem is."

But before Nazz got even halfway across the yard, all four doors opened and shut, and two of them, one big and one small, came walking towards her. She stopped dead in her tracks; either she didn't know who the newcomers were, or she did; and knew that they meant problem.

"That's Marie Kanker holding hands with that big dude, isn't it?" Eddy jumped closer to Kevin and Edd, and Kevin slowly got up on his feet. Edd saw that he was staring at the Jeep people as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, like he recognized them through the bright light. Kevin tensed up; Edd hadn't seen him like this in… years.

"Who are they?" Edd asked him carefully, but Kevin didn't reply; he'd stopped blinking.

The big guy who'd drove the Jeep dropped Marie's hand and got closer to Nazz as he spoke to her; he looked intimidating with his long dark hair, and tattoos all over his arms. But before Nazz had the chance to say anything in return he spotted Kevin… and a wide devious smile spread all over his face.

Edd knew that something was wrong, but he had still no clue of who this person was. He had never seen him around or in school.

When the big guy, or man – he was at least twenty two years old, judging by his appearance – walked up to Kevin, stopped a few feet away from him and smiled again. Edd could now see his whole face in the light from the fire; he had dark skin and brown eyes, and if he could guess his nationality he'd say he was from Hawaii, but he couldn't be too sure. He had long, black hair hidden under a grey beanie, a round stubby nose and a big muscular body with tribal tattoos all over his arms.

"Greetings, Barr." He said in a deep voice, he had only eyes for Kevin. "Long time, no see, eh?"

Kevin swallowed, but still he didn't say anything. He was paralyzed, frozen.

"I was seeing forward to a visit or two from you, but you didn't show." He licked his upper teeth. "Well, answer me, Kevin. Why didn't you visit me?" he demanded.

"Leave that shrimp alone. Come on, hun, I packed the car. Let's go!" Marie shouted behind him.

"Babe, can you wait a fucking minute?" he yelled back.

"Shut up, dipshit! Hurry up, I'm freezing!"

"Rude. Well, fuck that loser." Said Lee, who was one of the four standing by the Jeep.

"Hey! He's _my_ loser, okay? Only I can call him that!"

"Okay, as I was saying…" Marie's boyfriend turned to Kevin again. Edd and Eddy stood on each side of him, all three as still as icicles – he looked like someone you didn't want to pick a fight with. "I was actually expecting a visit from you, Kevin, and you let me down." He looked at Eddy, scoffed, and then at Eddward – and frowned. "You're cute." He said, but he looked like he didn't like that about Edd. He turned to Kevin again. "Is that kid your boyfriend?"

"Cheetah! Hurry the fuck up!" Marie shouted from the passenger side of the Jeep with the window rolled down, punching the horn like a maniac with, what Edd could only assume, her foot, since she was too short to reach the wheel all the way from the passenger seat.

Something broke inside of Eddward. He had heard so much about this _Cheetah_ several times a few years ago, but he had no idea as of what he looked like. It was Kevin's bully; it was the guy who had almost killed Kevin back when he was only fourteen years old. He was the one who had split the cul-de-sac kids for good. Cheetah and his gang of deadbeat friends had cracked Kevin's skull and left him bleeding out on the street almost four years ago; leading to a two month long hospitalization for Kevin. Cheetah and three others had been arrested and all of them were put in juvenile and later jail as they turned eighteen. Had Cheetah escaped jail, or had he already been released?

Now he was here, he had sought Kevin out and was now standing only five feet away from the boy he had almost killed a few years prior. This couldn't be legal, could it?

Cheetah groaned, closed his eyes and then looked up again. "I need to go, but I'll see you again, be sure of that. Okay, pumpkin?" he bit the tip of his tongue with a mischievous smile before he left. He jumped into the Jeep and drove off with Lee, Marie and two others Edd didn't recognize.

Nazz watched the Jeep until it disappeared from the cul-de-sac, and when it was gone she hurried towards Kevin. "I'm sorry, I tried to-"

"I'm fine." Kevin said angrily, walked past the fire, across the yard and out on the field behind the houses.

"Go after him. See if he's okay." Said Edd, almost choking on his own words, but he knew that Nazz was the only one now who could help him.

"Are you sure? What about-"

"We'll take care of everything here. Take your time." Said Eddy with the same tone of his voice as Edd had had.

"Thank you, guys." Nazz ran across the grass, climbed through the loose plank in the paling and disappeared into the darkness after Kevin.

Edd repeatedly reminded himself that Nazz and Kevin were only going to talk, nothing more. Oh, why did Cheetah show up now of all times? Eddward was finally talking to Kevin in private, they were finally on their way of building a steady base to stand on and evolve their… relationship into… something more. But no, the most inappropriate thing had to happen just about now! His stomach was turning inside out and his heart tried to claw itself out of his chest. He felt nauseous, and he worried over Kevin.

"Here comes Ed!" Eddy snapped Double D out of his toxic thoughts, and they both waited for Ed to join them on the grass. The rest of the party guests had forgotten everything about the Jeep and the newcomers, and carried on with their conversations as if nothing had interrupted them.

"Hey, guys." Ed said shyly as he got closer to them.

"Where's May?" Edd asked.

"She had to go with her sisters."

"Did they do anything to you?" Eddy asked, he sounded pissed.

"No, they shouted for her from the garage that they were leaving, so they didn't see us in the living room."

"So… what happened?" asked Edd.

Ed looked down, and a precious smile made his face shine like it had never shone before. "I finally did it, guys. I kissed her."

"Sweet!" Eddy exclaimed and patted Ed's back.

"I'm happy for you." Said Edd. "And I'm proud of you, you made it."

"Yeah… and hey, thank you for pushing me. I needed that."

"No problem."

"That beer really strengthened your nerves, didn't it?" Eddy playfully elbowed Ed on his arm.

"I guess…" Ed chuckled.

Edd didn't have the heart to tell Eddy that Nazz had been giving them alcohol free beer the whole evening, maybe that would trash Eddy's confidence; and that was the last thing he wanted right now.

Well, that was one out of three. Eddward would've never imagined that Ed was going to be the first one in the trio to get a girlfriend; but when he thought about it, he didn't really know who he _thought_ it would be either. Eddy had gotten a lot closer to his crush Nazz, so maybe it was his turn next? Edd sighed; was he stupid for fantasizing about a guy who may never return his feelings? What if Kevin liked girls and girls only? What if he fell in love with Nazz, taking _her_ away from Eddy? That would ruin them both… what a disaster. Eddy would always walk around, hating Kevin even more than what he did right now, and Eddward would hate… maybe he wouldn't hate Nazz for falling for Kevin… he couldn't really blame her if she did.

He knew that he had to prepare for the worst now – it would only be natural if Kevin and Nazz got together, only a miracle could help Edd get the love of his life.

 **Kevin**  
He stumbled over his own feet several times because of the mud he was sinking deeper and deeper into by every step he took. Whenever one foot sank it got stuck, and when he forcefully tried to take a step he flung his foot behind the other leg; making him to trip himself and almost fall. Every time he managed to save himself from falling, but it only made him angrier whenever it happened, which was a lot.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

The lump inside of Kevin's stomach only grew bigger from day to day, and when it was time to go to school again after the weekend, it felt like the lump was throbbing inside of him; shooting pain from the center of his stomach to his limbs and head. He couldn't get the promise out of his head when he stepped off the bus on a Monday, two days after Cheetah had stopped him in the corridor – but he couldn't walk around and hope that he was going to be nicer to Kevin either. And even though he'd promised himself not to believe it; the lump sort of felt a little bit lighter when the football team spotted him by the lockers that morning. He felt nervous, but not as much.

"There you are. We've been waiting for you, tough guy." Said Cheetah, who always looked more than agog from the sight of Kevin, with a big smile on his face. He headed towards Kevin, and stopped a few feet away from him, ready to reach out and grab him.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

Kevin finally lost his balance and fell in the mud on his hands and knees, but he just stood up and kept pulsing through it, without any thoughts on where he was heading.

"Kevin!"

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Cheetah's hands quickly grabbed the front of Kevin's shirt, and he yanked him up as if he was as light as a feather. Kevin knew that he wasn't going to be nicer to him – that was just to give him some kind of hope – psyche him into believing that he could stand a chance against them.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

"Wait! Kevin, please stop!"

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"We're going to have so much fun." Cheetah mumbled with a crooked smile, his face only five inches from Kevin's. "Boys, I'm going to need to teach Barr a lesson he won't be forgetting any time soon. Please, don't follow us."

His friends scoffed and laughed as Cheetah carried Kevin towards the toilets; he had done this several times before, so it wasn't new to Kevin what was going to happen.

"Let me go!" Kevin yelled anyway and tried to kick himself out of Cheetah's grip.

He was dropped on the ground, only to have Cheetah forcefully turn Kevin around and grab him from behind with his arms glued against his body. He was lifted again, but this time he didn't have the strength to kick Cheetah a second time; he just couldn't reach that way. The toilets were getting closer.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

"Hey!"

Someone grabbed present Kevin's hand to try and stop him, and because of him being in this state of mind; he spun around and defensively gave Nazz a backhanded slap over her face. It made her loose her balance and stumble backwards with a frightened shriek and her hands covering her face from the pain.

Kevin's heart stopped beating, and once he realize what he had done all he could hear was the effervescent high pitched ringing inside of his head, and he started hyperventilating. "I- I'm sorry!" he panicked, but he didn't dare to get closer to her. "I don't know what to do! I have never hit a girl before! I'm sorry- I-"

"Kevin, it's okay…" Nazz breathed into her hands. She let go of her face and looked up. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. Though, I called your name like five times…"

"I know, I'm just-" Kevin pressed his fingertips against his forehead and eyelids, grabbed a few strands of his hair and started pulling it, as if he didn't know what to do. "There are no excuses. I'd do anything to make it right again, Nazz, just tell me what to do-"

"Calm down, you lunatic." Nazz fixed her hair and got closer to Kevin; he quickly put both his hands in his pockets – as if he thought that he was going to hurt her again if he didn't. "I'm fine, you get it? It was a slip up and I know that you didn't do it on purpose. Just forget it, okay?"

"Okay…" it was like he was grabbing the last chance he had with her.

"Now that that is out of our way; please don't run away like this. I don't want anything to happen to you." She grabbed his arm and forced him to take his left hand out of his pocket. Nazz took Kevin's hand, and then she squeezed it between her own hands. "I care about you. You know that, right?"

"Um…" the hand she was holding was starting to sweat, luckily enough the mud he had had on it earlier was smeared on the inside of his pocket. He didn't know what to say. "Thanks?"

"Come on. Let's ditch the party and just… talk to each other. You can crash at my place tonight if you want to. I have a mattress under my bed you can sleep on."

Kevin nodded (he was surprised that she actually cared enough about him that she even followed him out on this muddy field), and without letting go of his hand Nazz led him back to her house again. Before they reached the tall fence hiding her backyard (where the party was still going), they turned left to the side of her house and opened the door to the basement. After that they just walked through the house and up the stairs until they reached Nazz's bedroom. She let go of Kevin's hand and dragged the mattress out from under her bed, passed him to go fetch a pillow and a blanket in her walk-in-closet, and then started making a bed for him.

"There." She said as she was finished. "It's not much; but since it's so hot outside I guess that you won't freeze. But if you do, I have another blanket in my closet."

"Thanks, that's perfect." Said Kevin, he remembered where he had slept two nights before – and this was significantly better than a hard and tiny couch.

"So… make yourself at home. Okay? I'll just tell everyone that I'm going to bed, but that they still can use the backyard and the downstairs toilet, and remind them to put out the fire before they leave."

"Okay…"

Nazz shut the door when she left, and Kevin just stood there in the middle of her room, not really sure about what to do next. Now that it was finally quiet he was left with all his memories again. The freshest one – that Cheetah had been here tonight, after so many years – haunted Kevin more than anything. He wanted to punch something, like a wall, but he restrained himself as he didn't want to trash Nazz's bedroom. Even though it looked like a granny's room; it was still kind of nice.

He remembered that he didn't like to sleep with jeans on, and knew that he didn't want to undress with Nazz in the room with him, so he quickly started to pull his black jeans off; clumsily fell to his side as one of his feet was caught in the pant leg. Luckily he fell on the mattress, but his head clunked into the side of Nazz's bed next to it.

"What the fuck…" Kevin mumbled, got even angrier than before. But just as he was going to punch her bed – as if he wanted to teach it a lesson – he heard footsteps walking up the stairs. "Shit." Kevin dragged his pants off. "Fuck!" he realized they were muddy from when he fell on the field, and had now stained the blanket he was going to have tonight.

He growled, pulled up his jeans again and stood up, and just as he did, Nazz entered the room. "Oh, sorry, were you undressing?"

"Yeah. But I forgot that my jeans were dirty, and somehow I got mud all over the blanket." He rubbed his head and felt a growing bump underneath his cap.

"That's okay. I'll give you the other one and I'll just wash this tomorrow." She passed Kevin and pulled the dirty blanket from the mattress. "Actually; it's in the closet, on the top shelf just inside the door – feel free to take it down, I'll just take this to the laundry room in the basement." She left the room again.

Kevin face palmed himself; how can he be this clumsy? Oh, well… he opened the door to the walk-in-closet and began the search for the blanket. "It must be this, right?" He pulled a quilted blanket from the top shelf with small blue flowers all over it, and just stared at it. Somehow it looked familiar but he didn't know why.

He decided to wait for Nazz to get back before trying to take his pants off again; what if it was the wrong blanket and he had to mess around a third time? Also he wanted to go to the bathroom one last time before going to bed and didn't feel like doing so in his underpants.

Nazz knocked on the door and waited for Kevin to respond before opening it again, and entered the room. "Good, you haven't undressed yet." She gave him a pair of black jogging pants.

"Thanks, these are actually exactly what I needed."

"Change, and tell me when you're done, and I take your jeans down to the laundry room as well."

Kevin did as she wanted and gave her his jeans when he was finished. "Thank you. Are these your dad's?" he asked her, knowing her father was a bit shorter than him, and the pants were a bit too short in the legs.

"They're actually yours. Don't you remember them?"

"Why do you have a pair of my old jogging pants?"

"It was about six years ago," Nazz began her story, "we had a picnic in my backyard and ate grilled hot dogs. We actually used that blanket with flowers back then every time we had a picnic, and you spilled-"

"-I spilled mustard on my crotch. I was so embarrassed." Kevin continued, remembering that day with a smile on his face.

"Luckily we had been on the beach the same day, so you could just change into your swimming trunks."

"And you washed my jogging pants for me. I remember. They were too big for me back then so I didn't miss them that much and forgot about them." Kevin sighed from the memory; it was such an easy time to be in back then. "Why are you still having them?"

This actually made Nazz to blush – her face turned red and she looked away. "I… they're my weekend pants."

"Weekend pants?"

"They're just something I can put on and be comfy in."

"But, hey," Kevin chuckled from her obvious blushing face. ", there's nothing to be ashamed of. I don't need these pants anymore, I mean; look at them." He pulled the legs a little bit, showing his ankles. "You can have them. Seriously. They're yours."

"Yes, but that's not all… Every time I use them they… make me think about you." She looked away again, with an even redder face than before. "And seeing them on you right now… it just feels kinda unrealistic, you know?"

"Heh- well, yeah…" Kevin began blushing as well; he couldn't remember the last time he did that at the same time as feeling touched by something someone had said. He scratched the growing bump underneath his cap.

"A-anyway." Nazz hurried to say. "I'll take these down to the basement. I can pop some popcorn."

"Yeah, sure…" Kevin had lost count of how many times Nazz had left the room and closed the door, but this time he relaxed and sat down on the mattress on the floor next to Nazz's bed.

Boy, that girl started to fall for him… what a mess. How could he turn her down gently without hurting her feelings? Kevin really wanted to keep her close to him; but as a friend; and he started to realize that she wanted something more than that. He thinks, at least… maybe he read the signs wrong, though; maybe Nazz was only nervous about their blooming friendship because it had been so many years since they even talked to each other. Heck; what if she'd just been missing him? Now that he thought about it; he had missed her too. Of course she was a little nervous and shy around him – that was only natural seeing they'd been best friends since elementary school!

Kevin stretched out his long legs and leaned against Nazz's bed with his pillow behind his back, feeling the cool floor underneath his heels. He heard popping sound from downstairs and the music blaring from the backyard on the other side of the house. People were laughing and singing with the music… maybe they could join them again? Kevin didn't actually feel like talking to Nazz right now; he knew that she were only going to try and get him to talk about Cheetah and Double D, and maybe she will even try to squeeze out some information about his dog and his dad.

No, that was absolutely something Kevin really didn't feel like doing right now.

Nazz came back with a bowl of popcorn, a bottle of wine and two regular drinking glasses in her arms. "I couldn't find the wine glasses, but I think that these will do." She smiled, put everything on the bed behind Kevin and then sat on the mattress next to him. "Wine?" she asked him and reached back to the bed.

"Yeah, thanks." He took one glass and let her pour the yellowish transparent liquid into it.

"I saved this bottle for another time, but I don't mind sharing it with you." She put the bowl of popcorn between them. "Hey, there's an old TV with a built in DVD player in the closet, I can just plug it in and we can watch a movie or something?"

Kevin didn't know what to say anymore. He had his mouth full of popcorn, and tried to make out the situation here. He knew that he always overthought stuff and sometimes was wrong about them, but he just couldn't get any sense out of Nazz. Did she want to talk or did she want to watch a movie? Girls are weird... "What can you recommend?" he asked her after downing the popcorn with some wine.

"I have a bunch of DVD's… wait here!" she got up on her feet and lightly tiptoed to her closet. She pulled out a box from one of the shelves in there and put it in front of Kevin. "Find something, I'll get the TV."

Kevin opened the box and looked down; all he could see were some girly cartoons about ponies and teddy bears, chick flicks, romantic comedies, and maybe two really old horror movies. He grabbed them both and inspected them, read the back and then the reviews on the cover. He picked the one that seemed gorier than the other; he didn't want Nazz to get any ideas.

"Did you find anything?" she asked from the closet.

"Yeah, it's like fifteen years old, but it sounded good enough." He heard a bang from the closet. "Do you need help?"

"No, I'm fine!" she shouted back. "Just trying to find all the cords and wires; it was a long time ago I used this thing."

"I can see that…" he looked down on the old cover again and read the name of the movie he'd picked. "Texas knife psychopath… I mean, the fuck were they thinking?"

"Oh… you picked that one, huh?" Nazz came out from the closet, carrying a very heavy looking lump that was the TV, with the cords dragging after her on the floor.

"Watch it!" Kevin got up and lifted the cord that she was almost stepping on. "I don't want to see you tripping over and hurt yourself."

"Thank you." She said under her breath.

"Here, let me help you." Kevin took the TV from her; it weighed much less for him than what it had done for her; and put it on the desk by the foot of her bed. He turned around and walked into Nazz again. "Oh-"

"Oops, sorry. I was just holding the cord." She leaned to her right to put the cord on the desk next to the TV, but Kevin tried to pass her from that side, making them do that awkward dance where you both just try to pass one another but always get in the way of each other.

"Okay…" Kevin grabbed her shoulders just to end the dance, and then got past her.

Nazz giggled nervously, put the cord on the desk and just stood there, leaning on the table with tense arms.

"Are you okay?" Kevin asked her.

She spun around. "Uh-ha." She said in a hurry, bit her lip and just stared at him.

"So… are you going to plug it in, or do you need help with that too?"

"Oh, right! No, I can do it-" when she spun around again she banged her knee on the chair. "Ow!"

"Nazz, are you alright?" Kevin chuckled; she was actually adorable when she behaved like this.

"Yes, I'm fine, just-" she inhaled with her legs crossed and crooked back, and smiled as if her knee didn't hurt anymore. "I just need to…" she put a hand on her forehead and widened her eyes. "Wow, that rushed to the head."

"Come on." Kevin chuckled again, stood up and helped her to the bed. She jumped on one leg and just crashed down on top of the sheets, holding her knee while swinging from side to side on her back.

"Thanks." She whispered.

"I'll plug the TV." Kevin did all the technical stuff, and when he was finished he started the movie, took the remote control and backed up to his mattress again. "Is your knee feeling better? Or do you want me to get you some ice?"

"No, thanks. A little wine will patch me up." She giggled and held her glass out to him; Kevin was closer to the bottle on the floor next to the bed.

He poured her some wine and then some to himself, and they started watching the movie while sipping their wine and eating popcorn. The movie started out poorly, boring and cliché. They both laughed when the Texas knife psychopath killed his first victim only two minutes into the movie, and when the main characters were being introduced, they began giving them their own names.

"That's you, Kev." Nazz said and pointed at the designated jock in the group of college students.

"Then that's you." Said Kevin when the poindexter showed on the screen.

"Can't I be the cheerleader?" she laughed.

Kevin thought for a bit, why did she want to be the girlfriend of the jock? "Why?" he asked suspicious.

"Don't you think I'm pretty enough to be her?" she challenged him.

"Well, duh, of course." Kevin turned his head where he leaned against her bed and looked at Nazz; she looked back at him, laying on her belly with her face a few inches from his. "But you're smarter than that bimbo, and look at the smart girl; she's much prettier than that in real life, they've only made her look like a total nerd with like make up and stuff."

"Aw… thanks, Kev." Nazz whispered with a serious face. "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Well, it's true, and you _should_ hear it a lot more often, because-"

Kevin was cut off due to Nazz grabbing his face and pressing her lips against his. She gave him a passionate and intense kiss, and before he could stop her she smoothly climbed down on the mattress on the floor with him and straddled over his lap. Kevin had been taken by such surprise he just responded to the kiss by putting his hands on her back, pressing her body harder against his and just let everything happen.

This was… new. Kevin had never done this before, and certainly not with a girl. It felt like she was waiting for _him_ to take the next step, and that made him feel insecure about his actions.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Hey! Stop!" fourteen year old Kevin cried as his bully kicked the door open to the boys' toilets. "Let me go!"

"Scram." Cheetah told some sophomore years by the urinals. They quickly zipped up their pants and left the room without hesitating. "And you-" Cheetah put Kevin down, turned him around, but kept holding his arms in a firm grip between his giant hands. "Stop squirming! I promised I wouldn't beat you up anymore. Remember?"

Kevin finally stopped fighting him and just stared into his eyes. "Aren't you going to flush my head in the toilet?"

"No." said Cheetah and shrugged. "I always keep my promises; that's something you should learn about me."

"But your team mates… they're waiting by the lockers. Aren't they going to realize something's wrong when I leave this toilet with dry hair?"

"That's easy to fix." Cheetah chuckled, went over to the sinks and turned one of them on. "Heads up!" he suddenly shouted and threw a hand full of water at Kevin.

Kevin parried, and the water hit the stall door behind him.

"You're fast." Cheetah sounded impressed. "But I guess that's my fault actually; chasing you around these corridors." He filled his hands again and walked up to Kevin. "But if you want them to believe that I flushed your head in the toilet; your hair needs to be wet."

Kevin sighed. "Okay." He took his cap off and let Cheetah pour the water over Kevin's head; and as if he wanted to show him that he wasn't going to hurt him anymore; he gently patted the top of Kevin's head to spread the water around.

"Oh, sorry…" he whispered when a stream of water ran down his forehead. He gently wiped Kevin's eyebrow with his thumb before the water got in his eye.

"No, it's fine…" Kevin mumbled while watching his shoes. This was really awkward and he didn't know what to do. He looked up, just to see what the bully did, and when their eyes met they both stopped breathing for a moment.

What was happening?

Cheetah cleared his throat and took his hand down from Kevin's head. "Now… I'm going to leave this room, and when the door closes; take a few seconds and then stumble out, look at me, and then run the other way. Can you do that, Kevin?"

Kevin nodded, and Cheetah left. He kicked the door open again and started bragging to his friends about how he had made Kevin cry in there. His team mates actually bought it and they all began laughing and calling Kevin names through the corridor.

This was actually not that bad, Kevin thought to himself, and Cheetah had actually kept his promise. Was he really a nice guy in disguise? Why did he bully people when he could be something much, much more than that?

Oh, a few seconds have passed! Kevin quickly went for the door, opened it and entered the corridor where the football team stood and patted each other's backs and playfully punched one another on their arms. They all stopped laughing as they noticed Kevin, and Cheetah broke out of his group of 'friends' and just stood and watched Kevin from afar. From this short distance he could easily take a few long leaps before reaching Kevin who wasn't that fast, but he just stood there.

Cheetah took a step towards Kevin. His heart started racing. Then Cheetah just made a half leap towards Kevin, shouting "boo!" and Kevin started sprinting the other way.

But he wasn't being followed.

Cheetah had kept his promise; and this was only the beginning of their twisted, sick relationship.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"What's wrong?" Nazz asked.

Kevin held her shoulders, arms reach from him, and he looked at her with regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Nazz, but I can't do this."

"Oh… okay…" she got off of him and sat next to him on the floor.

"It's not… it's not you, you know…"

"Yeah, you can keep telling me that." Nazz sighed. "Why can't you spare yourself the embarrassment of lying, and just tell me the truth?"

"But it _is_ not you, Nathalie. Believe me; if this was four years ago I would be doing handsprings."

"So what's wrong with _you_ , then, if there's nothing wrong with me?" she demanded to know.

Kevin calmed himself down before getting frustrated. Why couldn't she just accept the fact that he didn't want to share anything with her at the moment? "You know, the world doesn't revolve around you."

"Fine!" Nazz stood up, stormed towards her door and opened it. "I'd like you to leave, please."

Kevin was gladly leaving, but before he reached the door he stopped, sighed and looked at her pissed off face. He knew that he had to do something that he really didn't feel like doing right now; understand another person's feelings. "Please… just please don't overthink this. You know my past; at least parts of it; I'm not doing this because I don't find you attractive or anything. Deep down you know that. I don't want you to hate me…"

Nazz sighed, and all the muscles in her face relaxed. "I don't hate you…" she whispered, and angry tears started falling down her cheeks. "I guess I'm just embarrassed… I made an ass out of myself over there." She pointed towards the messy blanket on the mattress. "I'm sorry..."

"Just… don't think like that." Kevin mumbled. He'd hoped that he could skip all this drama; but he really wanted to keep Nazz as his friend; and he was too smart to leave her like this when he knew what the problem was. "You didn't make an ass out of yourself. Honestly, that was the hottest ambush in the name of history. Dude; you're good."

He actually succeeded to bring a smile on her face. "I am?" she chuckled while wiping her tears.

"Oh, don't even get me started." He said, bit his lip and looked aroused with heavy eyelids, a crooked smile and raised eyebrows. "Babe, you got _it_."

"It?" Nazz blushed.

" _It_. As in; no guy can stand a chance against your libido. Whenever Nathalie Fitzgerald is in the house; hide yo man; cuz she gonna steal him from ya!"

"Oh, my god, stop it!" she laughed and punched Kevin's arm. "Okay, okay, I get it." She sighed. "Thank you."

"No problem, Nazz." He playfully punched her back. "You wanna watch that bloody movie? Or should I still… go home?"

"Nah, you can stay." She shrugged. "But you're wrong."

"About what?"

"I feel more like the cheerleader than the nerd."

"You can be whoever you wish to be, miss Steal-yo-man."

"Ha-ha."


	9. Butterflies

**Comments:  
** **Gam08** **-** Tack så mycket för kommentaren! :) Jag hoppas att du kommer att gilla resten av storyn :D Your comment made me really happy though I had to translate it in google translate first ^^ **  
** **Guest** **-** I really loved this review! You said that I was reeling you in instead of giving you the answers, and just add more and more questions! And I love that you noticed that :D This is my way of writing stories; I love building up the characters and then twist and turn every rock their touching just to give them some depth and backstory :) Thank you so much for the comment! And I will try to make the chapters longer!  
 **Crybabyninja** , **I'm a Disney kid** and **Skellington Drocell C** are my new favorites!  
And **Gam08** and **Mimi2010** are my new followers! (as well as **I'm a Disney kid** and **Skellington Drocell C** )  
Thank you all so much!

 **And today is this story's anniversary! On this day, one year ago, I uploaded it for the first time :D**  
I know that because it's also my bf's birthday today ;)

* * *

 **Butterflies**

 **Eddward**  
The morning after, on Sunday, Nazz called all the Eds to thank them for taking care of her party when she went to bed earlier than expected. She called Double D first, and he told her that they had to leave before twelve, so they asked a few girls from her cheerleader squad to put out the fire, but Nazz said that that was okay and that she was going to call them too.

"Do you need anything else?" Edd asked her into his cellphone. He sat on his porch on the backside of his house, looking out over his sunny yard.

" _If I need anything_?" Nazz giggled.

"I mean, do you want help with the cleaning? I'm sure that Ed and Eddy will help too if I ask them nicely."

" _Oh, my gosh, that's so nice of you!_ " Nazz exclaimed, and Edd smiled; he loved helping others. " _But it's okay. Kevin is helping me and we're almost done._ "

"Oh… good. So, how is he?" Edd tried not to sound too surprised (or too jealous…); it was only nine o'clock; why was he over at her house this early, again?

Nazz lowered her voice as if Kevin was nearby. " _No, he's fine. Don't worry about him, from now on I will take care of him._ "

"O-okay, Nathalie. I'm really glad to hear that." He felt like his brain was shutting down and his autopilot turned on. He couldn't help but feel jealous even though he really tried to persuade himself that that was exactly what Kevin needed right now. He needed someone to understand him and Edd should be happy for him. "He's lucky to have a friend like you."

" _Aw, thank you, sweetheart!_ " Nazz sighed. " _Hey, thanks again for yesterday; you really saved me. I'll call Ed and Eddy and thank them as well, and my friends. See you in school tomorrow, okay? And let's do this again soon!_ "

"Yeah, let's. Bye, Nathalie." Edd hung up.

He slowly put his cellphone on the table in front of him and just stared into the trees across the yard. The leaves rustled in a soft breeze.

What now?

He couldn't fall into this black void again… he had to do something this time, he had to distract himself before it was too late. Eddward decided that he was going over to Eddy's; him, Ed and Double D could seize this hot summer day.

.

.

.

School started again and the students grew more and more tired and bored around this time of the year; summer had arrived to Peach Creek, and the break was only less than three weeks away. Once Ed, Edd and Eddy had a few minutes to spare during lunch break the first day, they started planning the last meeting for the Horror movie Club they started their first year here. They didn't have a lot of members, but in addition to themselves; five other horror movie enthusiasts came to the meetings once every second week (sometimes they brought guests). Their final meeting for this year was going to take place Saturday night, and they always planned these meetings days ahead, but because of everything that had happened last week they hadn't planned that much yet.

"Do we at least agree on what movie we're going to watch and discuss Saturday night?" Double D asked the other two. Principal Norton let them use one of the classrooms near the cafeteria whenever they needed to. Edd sat by the open window with a view over the football field – he just couldn't get his crush out of his mind and relentlessly tried to spot him whenever he had the chance… this was turning into some kind of obsession.

"Yes, we picked that 80's one about the aliens, right?" Eddy asked the most enthusiastic one in the trio. Eddy sat on the teacher's desk by the chalk board and fiddled with a ballpoint-pen.

Ed, who sat on a desk in the far back of the classroom, kept staring out the window and at the field. He didn't say anything.

"Monobrow, I'm talking to you." Eddy demanded an answer, but Ed still didn't react.

"Is something wrong, Ed?" Double D asked him.

Finally Ed's eyes focused on his friends, but he looked tired. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, we asked you where those aliens hid your brain, but I guess that you can't answer that anyway. You know, without your brain and stuff." Eddy said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hid my- what?"

"Eddy is just being a jerk, as always." Double D gave Eddy a fixed glare. "Is something bothering you?"

"Nothing is bothering me." A smile slowly showed up on his blushing face, and Edd understood what that meant.

"Was your date with May last night successful?" Double D asked with a wide smile. That was why he'd only hung out with Eddy yesterday – because Ed and May had spent the whole day and evening in Peach Creek's amusement park.

"Yeah…" Ed chuckled shyly.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Eddy made a throwing up sound and rolled around on the teacher's desk.

"Someday you're gonna go on dates with a girl too, Eddy." Said Double D. "I'm actually happy for you and May, Ed, and I can't say that I'm not extremely jealous – because I am."

"Are you jealous?" Eddy splurged out and sat up.

"W-well, of course I am. We're growing up, and who _doesn't_ want to share something as amazing as love with another person? And your first love will always be the most special one, I've heard."

"Wow, you're actually thinking about stuff like this…" Eddy mumbled.

"Aren't you?" Double D asked. He already knew the answer, but he really wanted Eddy to open up more – it was only his two closest friends in this room.

"Well… I don't know- maybe?" Eddy's face started to turn red. "But enough about that. How about the meeting next weekend? We have a lot to prepare. Monobrow! I asked you if we were going to watch that 80's movie about aliens?"

…

Once all the classes ended and the school emptied of its students, Eddward lingered by his locker right outside the Dance studio. Ed went to his practice on the football field, and Eddy took the bus home with Nazz. This was the first time he was going to have a whole thirty minutes alone with her, and Edd crossed his finger that they were going to have a really good time together. He, himself, waited for the rest of the students in his yoga class and the instructor; every Monday meant yoga. He was the only male student in this class, and these were most of the girls that always trusted his advice of everything.

"Eddward!" a dark haired girl came closer to him in the hallway; she had just changed into her yoga pants and top. "I haven't seen you all day. How are you?"

"Hi, Becky." Eddward said once she reached him. "I'm fine thank you. How are you?"

"I'm good. I heard that you were at Nathalie Fitzgerald's party last Saturday. Is… I mean; is it true?" she looked a bit skeptic.

"Yes, it's true." He really didn't get why that would be such a juicy reputation, so he didn't see why he should lie about it. "Well, I went because Eddy wanted to go." He lied anyway. The real truth was that he wanted to spy on Kevin and Nazz, and now to come to think about it; he didn't know what the result of that was…

Becky rolled her eyes in like an 'I-knew-it' kind of way. "So you didn't drink anything?"

"Beer…" she gasped. "It was alcohol free. Hey, why are you asking?"

"Nothing. Just… I think it's cool, that you're going to parties now. I've never seen you as a party animal. Maybe you can tell me next time you go, and I'll meet you there?"

"Uh, I wouldn't call myself a ' _party animal_ ', but yeah… sure." Double D replied. Maybe Nazz wanted to invite him to her next party as well; she _did_ say that she wanted to do this again sometime. And her last party hadn't been that bad actually; it hadn't been like one of those crazy parties you see in high school movies.

"Cool." Becky smiled, and soon the corridor was filled with giggling girls and they all seemed to glance at Edd. Well, that was something they always did; they thought that he was cute and brave because he dared to come to these yoga classes even though he was the only guy.

The instructor arrived shortly after and they started the class.

…

Since he was the only boy in yoga class he was always alone Monday nights in the locker room. He knew that the football team was arriving soon, so he always showered quickly and dressed as if his clothes were on fire. He had never really been afraid of them before; he was just very insecure about his body and never showed himself naked or even half naked around people. Of course he wasn't fast enough this time, because he heard the locker room door open as he stood in the shower.

He froze, turned off the water and listened.

At first he only heard footsteps. Someone was walking around by themselves in the locker room, but soon something heavy hit the floor and the person began muttering in there. "Fucking coach…"

Oh… my… dear…god… Edd pressed himself against the tiles on the wall and slowly slid down on the floor. This couldn't be happening right now; not when he was naked and his ski hat was on the bench across the shower room! He couldn't just simply walk over there and get it; not without putting his only towel around his head, because that would mean that he was going to be butt naked and risk getting discovered in here. But on the other hand; the football player out there was probably going to shower before he went home, so either way he would see either Edd's naked body… or his hair.

What to do?

More clothes and gear hit the floor outside the showers, and a helmet rolled into the room where Edd sat on the floor. He quickly pulled the towel off the hook next to him and wrapped it around his body as he shot up on his feet. He didn't know what to do about his hair and panicked.

A loud and tired groan came from the football player who started walking across the locker room and came closer and closer to the showers. Edd quickly turned around to face the wall just as he saw a pair of hands reaching for the helmet – the problem he had about his hair was in the front anyway.

The footsteps stopped, helmet was picked up from the floor and Edd started to sweat.

A surprised scream came from the football player behind him and Edd jumped where he stood. "My fucking god, Double Dweeb! You scared the living crap outta me!"

Kevin… of course. How didn't he hear that it was him? How didn't he understand? Who else would it be? Who… else…

"I'm sorry, Kevin!" Edd squealed.

"I thought that you were a ghost boy that was going to kill me!" after a short and angry rant Edd heard that Kevin began laughing. "Oh, shit, I will never walk into this locker room alone again… What are you even doing here?"

"I-" Eddward stopped himself. He couldn't tell his crush; this sporty, manly jock, that he was taking yoga classes every Monday. "I'm trying out for the basketball team." He tried to come up with the coolest thing to say, to impress Kevin.

"You? Oh, that's cool. So how's that going?"

"They said that I have a great chance to get in next year."

"Well, congratulations… hey, did I disturb you or something?"

"No, I was just finished and ready to go."

"Why are you turned to the wall, then?"

"I'm going to be honest with you, Kevin, okay?"

A few seconds of silence. "Yeah, okay?"

Edd shut his eyes; he prepared himself for something embarrassing, though everyone he knew since they were children already knew that he had insecurities about his hair. And since it had been so long ago, Edd was sure that Kevin of all people had already forgotten about it, and telling him over again felt more than embarrassing.

But as if Kevin had read his mind, he said; "Oh, yeah, your hat! Uh, here."

The shock filled Edd as if the lightning had struck him on the top of his head, and now the electricity ran through his veins and spine. His hat was hanging above his left shoulder; Kevin must be standing in the shower booth with him, only a few feet behind him. This was more than too much for him and the ringing sound filled his ears as if he was going to pass out. There was no way Kevin _didn't_ notice all the goose bumps spreading on Edd's arms and shoulders at the moment.

"T-thanks." He whispered as he grabbed the hat from Kevin's hand.

"Yeah, no problem." When Edd had put his hat on his head, corrected it a little and turned around, he saw that Kevin still hadn't left the shower room and now stood there, scratching the back of his neck with blushing face.

Without his regular red baseball cap, his hair looked messy and wet, and he was… Kevin Barr was looking like a freaking supermodel freshly picked from a year calendar with dirt on his cheek, forehead and hands, and Edd had to restrain himself from biting his lip. Though Eddward was famous for being the most hygienic person in the world (after his mother of course), he just couldn't stop himself from actually liking Kevin all covered in mud and sweat.

"Why aren't you on the field?" Eddward surprised himself by sounding so confident.

"Oh… well… I threw up… so Coach sent me home fifteen minutes earlier."

"Threw up? Why?" Edd took a step back; getting sick was the last thing he wanted right now.

"I think that I'm pushing myself too much nowadays, so Coach said that I need to sort out whatever is bothering me before next practice, or he won't let me play in one and a half week."

"That's ridiculous, he can't _not_ let you play; you're the Captain!"

"Tell me about it." Kevin muttered. "So anyway. I was going to shower and head home. Are you waiting for Hill?"

"Yeah, I guess. They will be finished in fifteen minutes, you said?"

"Exactly."

But the door opened again and Edd tensed up a second time. Kevin just looked at him like he too was wondering who it was, and went to look.

"There he is!" someone sounded mad.

"What?" Kevin asked defensively from the locker room.

"Coach told us that we couldn't keep practicing without our QB! It's your fault, Barr, if we lose the end game!"

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Byrd, or I'll kick your ass." Kevin sounded confident, as if this Byrd guy hadn't said anything of importance.

"What are we even doing back here?" Byrd yelled. "If our pussy Captain is too weak to practice he has nothing to do on the team. Just back down, Barr! Fucking damn it!"

"Shut up, Cody." Another player said in a tired voice.

"Greyhound could kick your ass any day, so don't push him." Another one said.

Edd still hid in the showers and listened to the voices out there. Though they sounded like there was going to be a fight, it also sounded like they talked to one another like this all the time and were used to it. Still Double D was afraid of what was going to happen… he couldn't get through that angry group of people now.

"I'm serious! You should all think about everything that is happening here! Coach is always petting him; we will lose the end game if things like this keep happening!"

"Shut the fuck up, already!"

"It was only this time, Cody, calm down."

"No, let him." Kevin said like he was waving Cody Byrd's words away as if he was just a small child. "I wanna hear what's bothering you, Byrd. It's about time; you've been holding this in for years, I can hear."

"You're going soft; that's exactly what I mean. You're weak, and you're not _my_ leader. I've lost all respect for you."

Kevin scoffed. "Good boy. Now sit the fuck down and shut your face; no one here asked for your shit."

"Yeah, it's enough." Said one of the others.

"Moron."

Everyone was quiet for a bit as they undressed, and Edd knew that he really had no other chance than now to escape. Soon they were all going to the shower booths, and there was nowhere to hide. He took a deep breath and entered the locker room with his towel tightly wrapped around his body… and the scene was much worse than what he had imagined. There were clothes, socks and football gear all over the benches and the floor, and at least twenty big football players either stood or sat down on a bench; and they were all staring at Eddward.

"Oh, dear…" he mumbled, looked down on the floor and quickly sat down on the bench closest to the showers where he had put his bag with clothes. He was going to wait for everyone to leave the locker room before he started to change, and he knew that the waiting was going to be the worst thing in his entire life.

He felt their eyes burning holes on the side of his face like acid, and soon he was going to regret ever being born.

"Don't." Kevin, who stood on the other side of the room, warned someone; but that person didn't listen to him.

"Don't, what? Is he off limits all of a sudden?" Byrd asked challenging. Apparently he had been looking at Edd in a certain way.

"I'm warning you. Just leave him alone. I'm serious." Edd still didn't dare to look up, but from what he heard; Kevin sounded pissed.

"Oh, Kevin… you've gotten softer than I first thought." Byrd scoffed in triumph, as if he knew something no one else did. "I had no idea that you actually liked him back."

Oh, god, please no… Eddward realized that he was going to tell Kevin about his journal! He finally looked up, but he didn't look at Byrd; he stared at Kevin with big shiny eyes. He stood right in front of Edd, grinding his teeth at Cody.

"I swear to god, Byrd…" Kevin said through clenched teeth.

"Just leave it."

"Don't push him, Byrd."

"What? Haven't you heard? Haven't you all heard?" Cody asked everybody in the room. "Poindexter here has a crush on our beloved Captain, and he's been writing about it in his diary. Don't you get it? They're faggots!"

"That's it!"

This wasn't the first time Edd had seen Kevin run, and it wasn't the first time he saw him fight; but he had never seen Kevin this furious before – and he looked horrifying. Like a frenzy struck rhinoceros he sprinted across the locker room, but before he reached to Cody Byrd, though, four players grabbed him to stop him; one of them even climbed his back and acted as an anchor.

"You're dead!" Kevin roared.

Cody Byrd, whom also tried to get to Kevin, was being held by three other guys so that he couldn't move, and a forth stood between them as a wall. "Bring it, queer!" Cody shouted, spit flying out of his mouth.

Edd saw his opportunity while everyone looked at the fighting couple – he quickly dressed into his everyday clothes as nobody was looking, sloppily squeezed down his wet towel in his bag and left the locker room without anybody noticing. He ran through the corridors until he reached the doors and exited the school. He knew that Ed and some of the girls from his yoga class waited for him at the bus stop, and he slowed down a little as he spotted them. He was finally safe.

"Eddward! Are you okay?" Becky asked him as he threw himself down on the bench next to her.

"Double D?" Ed asked, and as he put his hand on Edd's shoulder Edd broke down in tears. "What happened?"

"My life is ruined; that's what happened!" he sobbed. He hated crying in front of people, but everyone around him were his friends.

Becky put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug, and Ed sat down on his football bag next to the bench and leaned his head against Edd's arm.

This was the end… Eddward could never show his face on this school ever again.

 **Kevin**  
Coach Dawson opened the door to the locker room just in time to stop the fight between Kevin and Cody Byrd. He yelled at them both and seriously considered to suspend them from the team, but they calmed down and apologized, so he gave them a warning.

"If I see the two of you even glance at each other in the wrong way again then so help me…"

"Yes, Coach." Said Byrd.

"Sorry, Coach." Said Kevin.

"Good." Coach Dawson stayed in the locker room until they were all finished and followed Kevin (who was the last one to take a shower) to the parking lot where he had his car, and Kevin his motorcycle. "You know that I would hate it if you couldn't play your last game." He said as he opened the door to his car.

"I know, Coach." Kevin said with hanging head. He felt his stomach rumbling again; was it due to stress?

"Well… good night, Barr. I want to see you on the field again on Wednesday."

"Goodnight." Kevin watched Coach Dawson until he drove out of the parking lot and disappeared, before running to the closest bush and hurled into it. He put his palm on his forehead – it was hot. "Fucking damn it…" he mumbled, and drove home.

…

He spent the entire Monday night face down on the cool floor in the downstairs bathroom and couldn't crawl into his bedroom before Tuesday noon. His mother called the school office and told them that he had the stomach flu, and they told her that half the football team was staying home sick as well.

Kevin slept through all of Tuesday, and didn't wake up until Wednesday afternoon with a growling stomach – finally he was hungry! He sat up in his bed and looked at the clock laying on the floor next to his trash bin – that clock fell down from the wall months ago and he had never gotten around or even bothered having a thought of hanging it back. It was almost one o'clock, so he was missing out on school today as well; but he was going to make sure to be there for the practice at half past four.

He started off his day by heading to the kitchen on wobbly legs. The bullterrier, Honey, waited for him outside his bedroom and followed him around the house as he made sandwiches and took a long and hot shower. While standing in the shower, eating his sandwich, throwing pieces of it to Honey, and drinking some orange juice, he tried to remember the argument he had had with Byrd in the locker room before swirling down into the feverish darkness he had been in the last couple of days. He remembered the smart one in the Ed trio being in the locker room with them, but maybe that had just been a hallucination seeing he was getting sick. Had the sockhead been there with the football team for real? That doesn't sound right… why would he be in the locker room after school hours?

" _I've been trying out for the basketball team_." Kevin remembered him saying in the showers.

 _Him_? _Basketball_? That _really_ sounded fishy! And what were Kevin and Byrd even fighting about? There was something about a diary… and that Double D had been writing about him, Kevin, and that he had a crush on him. Well, that last part was just ridiculous! He knew that he had this insanely good self-confidence, that he could get any girl he wanted if he just wanted to; but he laughed at the thought of his mind making up fantasies about even guys falling in love with him… this is going too far; first Nazz and now Double D? Nazz was expected (heck, even _Jimmy Christensen_ would be a more suitable secret admirer), but _Eddward_ fucking _Vincent_? No, that's way too far, brain. You can't just pick a perfect mother-in-law dream and just make him gay like that. Who's next? Edd's opposite; the mother-in-law _nightmare_ Eddy Sampson? Coach Dawson?

Kevin took one last bite of his sandwich before putting it down on the sink to put shampoo in his hair and finish the shower.

…

Once he'd woken up that afternoon he'd texted Coach Dawson to tell him that he was coming to the practice, so they were all expecting him when he entered the locker room thirty minutes before they were going out on the field. Kevin suspected that him and Byrd had been fighting about nothing two days prior, because they were both getting sick, so he walked up to him straight away to apologize.

"Been home for a few days?" he asked him.

Cody Byrd was just putting his shoulder pads over his head; he gave Kevin a crooked smile. "Yeah, I got sick at the parking lot outside my building. I'm sorry I called you weak for throwing up; I didn't know it was the bug."

"Yeah, me too. Friends?" Kevin handed out his hand.

Byrd took it. "Friends."

It was weird; their relationship. Kevin hadn't had a close friend since Nazz when he was younger, so Cody Byrd had been his… well… best friend in a strange kind of way since. They fought a lot, but they always made up short afterwards – almost like brothers. Even though it wasn't a healthy relationship, Kevin always seemed to have fun around Cody, though their jokes were always at the expense of someone else.

This weird bomb that had been ticking underneath Cody's skin for a few months had finally exploded, so now they could go back to normal again. Kevin hadn't reflected further about the other half of the mystery that night in the locker room; that Eddward Vincent had been there and that Byrd told everyone who listened that Edd had a crush on Kevin.

…

Practice was fine. Everyone was happy though some were still home with the stomach flu; even Coach seemed more pleased with them than ever.

"I have a great feeling about this, guys!" he told the team in the locker room later that night. "Good job, all of you, and I'm happy to see that your face have turned back to normal color from green, Barr."

"Thanks, Coach." Kevin pulled off his shoulder pads and the jersey at the same time.

"You're free to dismiss, Coach!" Jefferson laughed while walking into the shower room.

Coach Dawson locked the door leading to the Sports center on the other side of the locker room and then left them; a janitor always locked the rest of the school at night. Kevin undressed and entered the showers. He looked around and at the booth where he thought he'd seen Edd the other night, but shrugged – there's no way he could've been there. Kevin was only hallucinating; or he _had_ actually seen a ghost.

…

Kevin pushed and punched his team mates playfully all the way to the parking lot where everyone had their cars, and they all said their good byes and left the school. As he got closer to the school's bus stop on his bike, Kevin spotted Ed Hill again, who waited for the bus.

"Hop on, Hill." Kevin just told him and stopped.

"Thanks, Barr!" This time Ed knew exactly what to do without any instructions.

He held on to their bags between them instead of strangling Kevin from behind; now Ed somehow knew how to stay on the bike by only clenching with his knees and feet – which was a great relief for Kevin.

Ed hopped off the bike outside his house and flung his bag over his shoulder. "Thanks for the ride; now I can spend more time with May."

"Kanker?" Kevin asked; he accidentally made the motor to fail out of surprise, and the engine died.

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend."

"How didn't I know that? When did this happen?"

"I kissed her last Saturday at Nathalie's party, and we had our first date the day after." Kevin was impressed over how honest Ed was; and a bit too detailed since they didn't know each other that well. Yet.

"Wow… congratulations, Hill. I wish you all luck with that girl."

"Thanks." Ed chuckled, turned around and walked up the driveway to his house.

Kevin, who didn't possess the courage to ask about Ed's smart friend, started the engine again and parked his bike on his own driveway across the cul-de-sac, but before he rolled it into the garage he had a weird feeling in the back of his head. He turned around and looked at the white house across to his; Eddward's house. At first he didn't know what he looked for, but just as his eyes focused on the front door something moved in one of the windows on the second level. Kevin looked up and saw the curtains wave, as if someone was shutting them just as he turned around. That window above the garage; isn't that where Edd's bedroom is?

Other than that nothing else happened during the night, apart from the text Kevin received after dinner. It was Nazz who asked him if he was going to be well enough to start studying for the Advanced Chemistry class tomorrow, and they decided to start straight away after school at her place.

…

Thursday. As always, Kevin parked his motorcycle on the parking lot on his regular spot. Everyone knew that that was Kevin Barr's spot, so no one even thought about parking there. He saw a new car parked next to his bike, though (well, _new_ wouldn't be the right word to describe it); an old, rusty green Volvo 242 that he had never seen before. He was far from knowing exactly every car every student on this school owned; but he thought that he would be remembering seeing this old jalopy. But as always he just shrugged and entered the school. At first he looked for his team mates, but after noticing only two of the Eds by the lockers, he steered his steps to them.

"Good morning, Barr." Ed said with his usual absent minded grin.

"Good morning, dorks." He told them both, but in a kind way to show them that he didn't mean any harm with his greeting.

Eddy Sampson, who had been facing his own locker, slammed the locker door and turned to Kevin. "Shovel-chin."

"Yeah… sure- hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Ask away." Eddy kept his sarcastic tone.

"Uh…" Kevin was a little thrown off by this, but quickly remembered that him and Eddy had actually never been nice to each other before. "I notice that there are only two of you."

"So?"

"So; is _Double_ -Dork ill or something? What's up?" he started to get annoyed.

Eddy crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah… he's sick."

Kevin was actually going to give up, but he just couldn't stand the attitude Eddy had towards him now that he was actually being nice for once. "I don't like your tone, Dorky." He told him.

"I was just going to say the same thing about your face."

"Watch it."

"I am, and I do not like it one bit."

"Er, guys-" Ed tried to calm them down.

"What's your problem, _Skipper_?"

" _You_ are my problem!" Eddy actually took a step forward, and it surprised Kevin so much that he backed up. "If I ever see you near Double D again I will bash your head in. Fight me as much as you want, but if I catch you even so much as _look_ at him-"

"Hey, hey, hey! I apologized to him and he accepted it! I will regret that black eye for the rest of my life even _without_ you judging me behind his back!"

"I'm not talking about that!" Eddy shouted.

"Then _what_ are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what you and your dumb jock friends did to him last Monday!"

"Enlighten me then, Knucklehead! _What_ did we do to him?"

"I don't know! But he won't show his face on this school anymore! I could kick your ass right here and now for whatever you did to him!"

"I. Have. Not. Done. _Anything_!" Kevin shouted back. Students were stopping in the corridor just to watch them argue. "I- I don't even remember that night… I was getting feverish, and threw up… Was he in the locker room that night?"

"Yeah. He had been in-" Eddy elbowed Ed before he could finish. "Uh, sorry…"

"And he hasn't been in school since?" he looked at Eddy, who kept staring at Kevin without saying anything, but Ed was shaking his head furiously. "Well, I didn't touch him." Kevin calmed down. Was everything true? It wasn't him who had been hallucinating everything? "If anything, I defended him. It was Cody who gave him a rough time."

"I told you Kevin was innocent." Said Ed with a wide grin.

"Pshaw!" Eddy pushed Ed, but he was too heavy to even budge an inch.

"Trust me, Sampson. I'm actually starting to like you guys again. At least him." Kevin nodded towards Ed. "Double D isn't that bad either, he's always been cool to me. But I think that you and I will always have a beef with each other."

"Yeah, you can count on that, Shovel-chin."

"If you see him; tell him that he has nothing to be afraid of. As long as I am here; no one will bother him."

Eddy sighed. "Okay, Barr. If you say so."

"Thank you."

…

Something was badgering in the back of Kevin's mind during the first few periods that morning; like a needle poking his brain from behind. All he could think of was his and Cody's fight in the locker room, and if everything was actually true and not a fever dream. If it was true, then for the first; Byrd did not deserve that apology yesterday, and for the second; Eddward Vincent hadn't been absent from school because of the stomach flu… it was because he had been writing about Kevin in his diary, and felt embarrassed because Byrd told everyone about it in the locker room last Monday.

Was that why he didn't want Kevin to read it? He tried to remember every detail from that Friday last week (well, it was only six days ago, so how hard could it be?). Kevin had been sleeping on Edd's couch (something people still didn't know) because he had been too drunk to function. He woke up early Friday morning, escaped Vincent's house and then took his bike to school even though he was still kind of drunk. Before the classes started he heard his team mates hounding a student, and as he entered the janitors' shortcut corridor he spotted Edd, with a black diary he didn't want Kevin to read, and Kevin; who in turn just wanted to be nice to Eddward; ripped the pages from the binder without reading it.

" _Just please… you'd kill me_." Edd had begged him.

Kevin thought that he was going to find out in one way or another anyway, and when he opened the book Eddward slammed into him and forced him to let go of the diary.

So that was what it had said? Cody Byrd and the gang had read the diary; found out that Eddward Vincent was writing about Kevin in it, something about liking him? Or having a crush on him or whatever? _Or_ did it say something _else_ , and he ran away from the locker room last Monday, and stayed home because of something else?

Kevin couldn't jump to any conclusions without proof; what if he was wrong? But what if Edd's sudden bravery to help Kevin out of dodgy situations, or his blushing face whenever he talked to Kevin, or his clumsy attempts to seem confident; was actually him… being in love with the jock? Yes, Kevin had noticed that both Edd and Nazz had been acting weird around him lately. He was actually right about Nazz, but was he going to be right twice?

Is Eddward Vincent gay?

Something clicked inside of Kevin's head during lunch break; something made his mind both clear and fussy at the same time. It was like he had been under water for a very long time, and now his head broke through the surface and he took his first satisfying deep breaths. He drove to the cul-de-sac faster than what he thought was possible, and stopped outside the white facade of the Vincent residence. He turned off the engine on his motorcycle and confidently walked up the driveway. But he stopped with his fist in the air, on his way of knocking on the door.

What is he doing? Had he lost all sense of self-preservation? What is he even going to say? Was he simply going to ask Edd if he had a crush on him? In his head that had sounded like a good idea; but now that he actually _thought_ about it…

His hand softly fell to his side. He walked back to his bike and drove back to school again.

…

He didn't see Eddward in school that Thursday, and Friday was another no show. He asked Ed about him before practice Friday night, but he hadn't talked to Double D at all. He had tried to call him but he didn't answer any calls, not even from Eddy.

"Eddy is outside his house right now, waiting for Double D's parents to come home and let him in… we're worried about him."

"Yeah, me too. He's never been this absent before, right?" Kevin put his jersey on and they started walking through the school towards the doors in the back, leading to the football field.

"No… he's acting really strange, and he refuses to tell us what happened."

"I wish I could tell you, but as I said; I was having a fever, and all I remember is that I was defending him from Byrd." Kevin decided not to let Ed know whether he suspected Double D for having a crush on him or not; what if he hadn't told anybody about it – not even his two best friends. And also… he still could be wrong.

"I just hope that he's still coming to the HMC meeting tomorrow. We had to change location from his house to mine, and everybody's asking for him."

"HM- _what_ meeting?" Kevin asked. They were now walking on the path to the field.

"Horror Movie Club meeting. We're hosting one every second weekend. We're usually in Mr. Vincent's man cave in the basement, but we don't even know if Double D will show up… after everything that's happened."

"Wow… they have a man cave in the basement? And you're hosting secret club meetings down there? Cool."

"Yeah, and sometimes we bring guests."

"Hey… you wanna invite me?"

"Sorry, only one guest per person, and I've already asked May."

"Of course you have…"

…

That Friday night Kevin laid on top of his bed, on his back, and just thought about things. He couldn't get the school's smartest kid out of his head, it was like poison. Like some kind of obsession or something… Whenever he tried to think about something else, Edd always popped up in his mind. Kevin thought about food and *pop* there was Double D in the school cafeteria polishing his fork with a napkin before using it. He tried thinking about cars and *pop* the window of the green Volvo 242 rolled down and Double sat in the passenger seat with a wide smile, showing the gap between his front teeth. Kevin tried to challenge himself; no way Edd could intrude his thoughts about football- *pop*! There he was in the shower booth in the locker room, with Kevin's football helmet on his head, the bleach white towel tightly wrapped around his dripping body and goose bumps all over his arms and shoulders.

 _This is not happening_ , Kevin thought to himself. _Is it really?_

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Kevin ran through the corridor with the Captain of the football team hot on his heels. He swung the door to the toilets open, but just before he could lock it, Cheetah yanked it open from the other side, and Kevin fell on his back on the floor.

"Is the coast clear?" Cheetah asked, looked around the room and then back at Kevin.

Kevin, who was lying on the floor, looked under the stalls. "No feet." He whispered with a smile.

"Stay there." Cheetah locked the door, growled, and got down on his knees. He began crawling on hands and knees towards Kevin, who started backing up against the wall. "I said stay. Are you not obeying me?"

"No." but Cheetah was faster; he grabbed Kevin's foot and dragged him across the floor, making him fall down on his back again. "James! Not here…"

"Shhh…" James hushed him, and then kissed him passionately while laying on top of him. He stopped for a brief moment. "Are you feeling that?" something moved inside Cheetah's pants, and Kevin knew exactly what it was.

"Yes! And I told I wasn't ready yet, and especially not here." Kevin forcefully pushed James off of him and stood up. "I prolly have piss all over my back now and it's your fault."

"Come on; it's been a whole month now! How long do you want me to wait?" he also stood up, and slowly got closer to Kevin who had to back up against the sinks.

"Just a little bit longer… This is new for us both, Jim, even newer to me since you've already been with a girl."

"Exactly; I'm not a virgin so you should trust me. You're ready, Pumpkin…" he bent down and began nibbling on Kevin's neck. "Trust me."

"We agreed on only _making out_ in school… Nothing more."

"Do you want me to beg?" James whispered.

Kevin trembled. "No… I want you to wait for me to be ready."

Cheetah let go of Kevin and backed up. His face turned serious, and it looked a little like Kevin had hurt his feelings. "You know that I'm not gonna wait forever, right?"

"Wh-what do you mean?" Kevin couldn't believe what he was hearing; James had never said anything like that before.

"I mean that I'm a man, Kevin, and I have needs… I'm saying that it's not hard for me to find someone who could… satisfy those needs, if you know what I mean." James looked serious, almost a little angry. "Maybe that will help us both; I go and have sex with someone else, and then I come back and make out with you – and we're both happy. Win, win, right?"

"Are you serious?" Kevin felt his heart pounding inside his chest; he wasn't ready to lose James yet; even though he from time to time begged Kevin for sex; he was still making him happy… something he hadn't been in a long time.

James nodded. "So… I guess that I will try to get some… but see you later tonight, okay, Pumpkin?" he stroke Kevin's cheek and looked deeply into his eyes, and then he gave him a quick peck on his eyebrow before turning around.

"Wait…" Kevin mumbled. "Okay… we can… I will… just come by my house after my parents have gone to sleep… Just don't do anything with anyone else. Promise me that."

James Hyde smiled wider than ever when he turned back to Kevin again. "I love you so much, Pumpkin. I promise to not have sex with anyone else."

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Thinking back on his youth made him angry… James Hyde had stolen Kevin's innocence more than once, and Kevin felt embarrassed for letting him. What they had; Kevin and James; was far from what Kevin once thought was love, and it had fucked Kevin up more than anything. He hated remembering details of what happened four years ago, he hated the person that he once was, but he hated the psychopath that manipulated that poor fourteen year old child that once was him even more… he felt something boiling inside of him…

It was his stomach, and he ran across the room and threw up in the trash bin by the door. He didn't know if it was because of the stomach flu or not… but he felt much better afterwards and could think a little bit clearer.

Though he had never had a girlfriend before, Kevin had already established that he will never have a romantic relationship with a girl. At first he thought that it was because of James Hyde, but he found out early on that he wasn't attracted to girls at all; all the girls on his school, including Nazz, had been barking at the wrong tree for years. Kevin had been trying to avoid to even think about his sexuality for years, and sometimes just considered himself bi or even just a-sexual (it would be so much easier that way); but after hearing the news of Eddward Vincent, and that he may be having a crush on Kevin… Kevin couldn't help but to feel flattered, and think of Edd in a completely different light.

Double D had always been really sweet and cute and… after seeing him in the shower, and actually thinking about it, made Kevin's stomach tingle a little… or; if he should use the right term for this phenomenon; having butterflies in his stomach fluttering around.

"This is it, then…" he mumbled to himself, watching the wall as the sunset painted it orange. "I think that I should try and figure out if he likes me or not."

Kevin wasn't shy, so he opened his window after putting a chewing gum in his mouth, walked across the cul-de-sac and knocked on Eddward Vincent's front door. He'd decided that he was just going to do it; fuck it! He was just going to ask Edd out as if it was nothing, just to see if this was something Kevin wanted to do right now. If this was really his thing.

A smile spread across his face as he heard footsteps walking down the stairs, and waited.

* * *

You want to se fanart for this story and other art? Search **jeelindberg** on tumblr and follow me there!


	10. The Horror Movie Club

Thank you **Gam08** for the comment! ^^ Gracias! Espero que este próximo capítulo sea tan bueno como el último (I hope that google translate did that right!)  
And **Guest** : You said in your very very very nice critique review that something was a little bit off in the last chapter, and that you couldn't really put your finger on it. And I agree! I reread it like five times before I uploaded it but I just couldn't figure it out either. I guess that it was a bit off because of the time jump; one whole school week went by during that chapter, and I have been ekeing (I don't know the right word for this) the days out in earlier chapters. Like; Chapters 1 to 19 were all in two days. Maybe that's why it felt so rushed? And the time jump is there since Kevin is sleeping through three whole days while Edd is being by himself, avoiding other people. I don't know really, but I think that could be the answer! And thank you so much for the nice critique, I really love reviews like this, who doesn't want to get better, right? :)  
 **Guest** : You contacted me via private message, telling me a bit more about what I can do and change to make chapter 27 better, and I will think about that a lot! I will, and I have a plan so don't you worry! Thank you for messaging me :)  
 **Mimi2010** : I, too, am a sucker for nosebleeds x) thank you for your comment :D  
I will give a response to _everyone_ commenting on my story like this! Everyone!

Welcome, my new favorites and followers: **IceMagnolia** , **darkness839** , **Mack. The. Awesome.19** (sorry, this site didn't want to let me write your name correctly, but there should be no spaces after the dot) **, Agoodreader** and **BriggRG!**

I was sick while writing this and the last chapter, so my English and grammar aren't very good in these. I've tried to fix them now that I'm a little better again, but if you find them weird; that's why x)  
For you who didn't know; English is only my second language since I live in Sweden :)

 **Thank you all and welcome! :)**

Share this story and comment! Give me tips and critique about it! I'm doing this because I LOVE storytelling (of course I want other people to enjoy my work as well), and also illustration.  
If you're interested in my art, please visit my tumblr: **jeelindberg**

* * *

 **The Horror Movie Club**

 **Eddward**  
Eddward was happy to have a friend like Eddy. Both doors downstairs had been locked, and after establishing that even the windows around the house were locked as well, he had started to climb the wall to the roof underneath Edd's window. But since he is a little… chubby… he didn't have the strength to climb all the way up on top of the garage. Of course Eddward didn't want him to look like a moron out there, so he opened the door and let Eddy in. After a long talk about everything except for what had happened last Monday, Edd felt a little better about himself.

"I'll go back to school next Monday… thank you, Eddy." He said, sitting on his bed in his black onsie, leaning against the wall with the window. He could see the whole cul-de-sac from here if he only tilted his head in the right directions, but with the curtains shut with just a small gap between them, he could only see the grey house across from his from where he currently sat.

Eddy sat on his office chair and slowly spun around on it. "No problem. So are you coming to the meeting tomorrow? We're going to be at Ed's."

"I'll be there."

"Have you eaten anything? You want me to order pizza?"

"I haven't eaten pizza in five years." Edd chuckled.

"Let's cheat. You'll feel much better after a big, greasy-"

Someone knocked on the door downstairs.

"Do you mind to check who it is? And if it's for me; tell them that I don't want to see anyone tonight." Edd asked.

"Sure, Sockhead." Eddy left the room, walked down the stairs and then opened the door. Eddward didn't hear who it was by the door, but if he listened closely he could hear a few words from Eddy. "… don't wanna see anyone today… he will talk to you on Monday… back to school then… yeah, I'll tell him that…"

"Who was it?" Edd asked him as he entered the room again. He could just look out the window and check for himself, but he didn't want to risk that person seeing him.

Eddy didn't look at Edd, but he mumbled as he sat down on the chair again. "He's so annoying… keeps coming back… never listens… so stupid…"

"Don't tell me you actually sent _Ed_ home? You could've invited _him_ in."

"Of course I didn't send _Ed_ away! It was just Shovel-chin."

"Kevin?!" a chill ran down his spine.

"Yeah, he's so weird. Yesterday he even asked where you were. Why does _he_ care all of a sudden?"

"Kevin asked _you_ where _I_ was?"

"I know! The nerve, right? He should be ashamed of what he did to you; not looking for you when you're not around!"

"Oh, but he was actually defending me in the locker room…" Edd tried to think about something else while telling the story; he didn't want Eddy to notice that he was blushing. "It was Cody Byrd, he-"

"He what?" Eddy asked, something dark flashed in his eyes.

"He… was teasing me; called me names, but Kevin stopped him. I left before they started to fight each other, so I don't know what happened after that."

"Wait… so you're afraid of Cody Byrd? Not Kevin?"

"I'm not _afraid_ of anyone!" Eddward snapped. "I really do dislike when you're all treating me like some defenseless child!" he felt proud of himself for finally telling Eddy; his greatest protector; off, that he stood up for himself instead of relying on somebody else. "I don't want anyone to fight for me! I can handle that myself, but no one gives me a chance!"

Eddy looked awe-struck. "Oh… wow… I've actually never looked at it that way…"

"Well, you should've! How would you feel if people always protected _you_?"

"I would feel kinda… weak… to be honest."

"Thank you!"

"Okay, then let me get this straight." Eddy cleared his throat. "All of a sudden the football team is giving you a hard time for no reason at all. Kevin was the one punching you, making the rest of them hop on the bully train against you; but now Kevin is defending you against the team – who are just finishing whatever he started?"

"Well, yeah… but you don't know Kevin like I do. Yes, you and he have never gotten along, but he has always been nice to me, and he really regrets punching me that day. And now he's trying to make up for that, but it's like Cody Byrd has taken his place as the leader, so now he has to protect me, and at the same time try and protect his place in the team. Don't you get how hard it is for him right now? He's an outcast." Edd swallowed the hard truth. "And Nathalie is his only real friend…"

He didn't want to believe it at first; but now Edd finally realized that he was never going to be the main character in Kevin's story – it had always been him and Nazz.

"I didn't know that you cared so much about him…" Eddy mumbled. He sounded a bit nervous, as if he found this whole conversation awkward.

Edd noticed that he was on the verge of crying, and quickly wiped his wet eyes. "Of course I do… He's always been one of us. I don't know the whole story with him and Cheetah, but I can see that he is hurting. Something horrible happened – something he hasn't told anyone, not even the police. Kevin carries a darkness inside of him that only grows stronger, and I really think that all he needs right now is one or a few stable friends that he can trust and rely on."

"Aw, man…" Eddy rubbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "I guess you're right, Sockhead, _as always_."

…

Eddy left one hour later, at ten pm., and Edd couldn't come to think of anything else to do than to go to bed. While lying there in his bed, underneath his blankets in his black one piece outfit, he felt a really warm and pleasant feeling in his stomach. Kevin had been asking for him in school, and he had even been over to his house; because he wanted to know if everything was okay. _Kevin_ had been knocking on _Edd's_ door, and asked about _him_ in school! He couldn't avoid smiling at the thought, even though he knew that he was going to regret it sooner or later. But who could stop him from keep fantasizing about him? Thoughts weren't illegal…

He fell asleep with the memory of Kevin's scent (from when they'd fought over his journal in the janitors' shortcut corridor), but he woke up from the sound of someone climbing the garage, onto the roof outside his window. Maybe it was Eddy coming back, but tried to climb up onto the garage roof again because Edd didn't hear him ringing the doorbell. This time, though, he actually succeeded, and now carefully walked on the roof tiles towards Edd's open window. Eddward sighed and stood up. He was just on his way to open the window more for Eddy to climb through; when he noticed that the dark figure outside his window was much taller and slimmer than Eddy.

A burglar!

Edd didn't know what to do! He had never had anyone break in before, and especially not while home alone!

He tensed up, tried to slowly and quietly back up to the door when someone whispered in the night. "Double D?"

"Wh-wh-who is it?" he asked with a trembling, high pitched voice.

"It's me. Kevin. Did I scare you?" the dark figure stumbled closer to the window, and now Edd could finally see his face clearer.

"Oh, my god. Kevin!" Edd walked over to his bed, turned on his bedside lamp and sat down on his office chair by his desk underneath the window. "What are you doing up there?"

"I… wanted to talk to you, but Skipper didn't let me in earlier, and I thought that you wouldn't open the door for me either." He put his hands in the air in front of him, as if to show that he was unarmed. "I don't wanna cause any trouble. I just want to talk. Are you gonna let me in?"

"Well…" Edd gulped; it felt like he tried to swallow something really big, but he opened the window with shaky hands, and then backed away until his calves touched his bed. "Sure, come in."

Kevin gently climbed into Edd's bedroom, smoothly slid across the desk and landed on the floor in front of him. Edd noticed his clothes; white sneakers, dark grey sweatpants, a moss green t-shirt underneath a white unbuttoned hoodie and his everyday red baseball cap. "Thanks." Kevin began walking around his room. "So this is how you live? I don't think that I've ever been in here before."

"Heh, yeah…" was all Edd could utter.

He felt like he was going to throw up and pass out if he tried to think of anything intelligent to say. Even worse; he looked down at his black onsie and remembered that Kevin had made a comment on it last week. " _Nice pajamas_." He'd slurred while stumbling to the couches in the living room. But he had been drunk that time, and hopefully forgot all about this childish one piece pajamas – because that was what it was; a pajamas! With feet and everything! Now Kevin was all sober, walking around _Edd's_ room, remembering every little detail because of a sober, all functional brain!

Kevin kept looking around Edd's room, picked up a few of his things and inspected them closely. He walked over to the bookshelf and started reading some of the titles.

"Are you looking for something particular?" Edd managed to ask. He just wanted this to be over with; he had never felt this uncomfortable his entire life.

"Nah, I'm just trying to get to know you a little better, I think." Kevin replied, still reading every title on the books. He reached into the shelf and grabbed a pair of old lab goggles. "Are you still into science and stuff?"

"Y-yeah."

"Cool." Kevin turned to him with a crooked smile, and Edd felt his legs melt underneath him.

He sat down on the bed and watched Kevin walk around his room and look at all of his stuff. This wasn't real; Kevin Barr couldn't possibly be walking around in _his_ room, looking at _his_ stuff because he wanted to _get to know_ him better! His scent, some kind of sporty perfume, was slowly filling the area around him; Edd's heart was pounding against his ribs.

"You said that you wanted to t-talk with me about something?" Edd stammered.

"Oh, yeah…" Kevin's posture changed dramatically; at first he had seemed extremely confident walking around the room, but now Edd realized that he did that because he was stalling. "I wanna know if it's true… you know…" he scratched the back of his neck underneath the red baseball cap, looked down on his feet with a face that was turning a few shades darker. Was Kevin shy?

"If what's true?"

Kevin took a few more steps closer to Edd, now standing only five feet from the bed. He still looked down on his dragging sneakers. "What you wrote in your diary about… about me… Is it true?"

Eddward just sat there with his mouth open. His face was burning as if it was on fire and his heart was pounding inside his head.

"I won't get mad. I just wanna know if it's true or not." Kevin finally looked at him, and Edd took a pillow, buried his face into it.

They were both quiet while Edd hyperventilated into his pillow. This was so embarrassing! He would never be able to look at Kevin again; not now that he knows and even asks about it in person!

He swallowed again, and nodded, still with the pillow hiding his face. His heart stopped as he felt the mattress sink down next to him, and he peeked to his right only because he couldn't believe what was happening. Kevin sat on the bed next to him, analyzed his burning face with separated lips and dark, skeptic eyebrows.

"I'm actually surprised, Vincent."

Edd jumped, hid his face again and breathed into his pillow. "Why?"

"I'd never have guessed that you would be playing for the same team. What's even stranger is that you'd like me… of all people. I mean… I'm not special. I'm mean, manipulative. I've been bullying your friends for years. What do you see in me?"

"I-I-I…" Edd didn't know what to say, but he finally looked at Kevin, opened his mouth… but that was it. It felt like Kevin's green eyes penetrated his soul, and he finally found the right word describing his feelings towards the jock. "You're making me speechless." He said.

"I'm scaring you." Kevin said as a statement, but Edd shook his head.

"I'm not scared. That has never been the case."

"Okay…" Kevin looked down on his knees, and smiled. He looked up again, and his pale green eyes met with Eddward's blue ones. "Can I try something then?"

"Wh-what?"

"Just… be quiet for a second."

Edd thought that his heart was actually going to rip his chest in pieces and jump out on the bed between them.

This wasn't happening. This. was not. happening!

Kevin scooted a little closer to him, leaned forward and tilted his head. Edd automatically leaned backwards at the same speed as Kevin was leaning forward, but soon he'd reached the limit to his balance without putting his hands behind him for support, and he had to stop leaning backwards or he'd fall down on his bed back first.

And Kevin got closer.

Edd started hyperventilating again. Kevin's face was now only inches from his; he could feel the warmth from Kevin's breath bounce on his lips. "Scared yet?" he whispered, his warm breath hitting Edd's face, molding to the shape of his lips like a devious mist.

"T-terrified…" Edd breathed shakily and swallowed the saliva building up inside his mouth. Something even warmer started dripping from Edd's nose, ran down his lips and chin. "Oh, no!" He yanked his right hand upwards and slapped it on his face; but he didn't do that without poking Kevin in the eye first. "I'm so sorry!" he buried his lower half of his face in the pillow again while watching Kevin with his own hand covering the left half of _his_ face.

"I guess that that was a bad idea then." Kevin chuckled, tears streaming down his cheek from his left eye.

"No, no, it wasn't, I was just not prepared…"

Kevin looked at him with a smile. "So you were going to let me?"

"I couldn't believe that it was even happening. But yes… I was going to let you."

"And you would like it?"

Eddward sighed. "I would love it…"

A strange light spread all over Kevin's face. Well, the half that was not hidden underneath his hand, at least. "Then…" he hesitated a little. "Would you like to have dinner with me or something tomorrow night?"

Edd still couldn't believe what was happening. Kevin Barr sat on his bed, with wide, shiny eyes and a big smile on his pink lips. He had never seen him like this before; he was like a completely different person. He looked genuinely happy with deep dimples in his cheeks.

"But h-how about N-Nazz?" Edd stammered, with blushing face as if he felt ashamed for meddling in something that didn't concern him.

"What about her?" Kevin wrinkled his forehead.

"I-I just thought that you and her… you know… were going-"

"She's just my friend. So how about that date?" Kevin's face turned red again, and Edd didn't mean to make this any harder for him.

"I'd love that." He whispered behind his pillow. He didn't know if he still had a nosebleed, but he didn't dare move the pillow from his face either. He suddenly remembered his friends. "Oh, no…"

Kevin heard the change in his voice. "What?"

"I'm sorry I- I'm actually busy tomorrow night. I have other plans."

"Oh, right, the Horror movie Club meeting." Kevin put his palm on his forehead. "I forgot."

"How do you know about that?" If Kevin hadn't seen him as a nerd before, then he was definitely doing so now!

"Hill told me." He shrugged.

"I can do lunch, though."

"I'll pick you up at eleven."

Edd began blushing again. "Okay."

Kevin got up on his feet, started walking towards the window. "See you tomorrow then. Goodnight, Edd."

The sound of Kevin's voice, saying Edd's name like that, sent a shivering lightning through his body. "Goodnight, Kevin." He whispered back, and watched Kevin flexibly climb out his window again and leave, with the white hoodie fluttering behind him like a cape.

…

He woke up the morning after, immediately remembering the night before, as if he had been dreaming about it the whole night. He had gone through the memory of his late night meeting with Kevin so many times that it couldn't possibly have been a dream. It had been for real, and Edd didn't have any other choice than to actually believe the unbelievable; and later today Kevin was going to pick him up for a legit lunch date. It was surreal, it was like a dream, but it was actually happening.

He got up from bed seven o'clock because he couldn't be still anymore, took a long and elaborate shower just to make sure that every inch of his body would be clean for his first date ever, and then stood in front of the mirror and pinned down his hair as much as he could before putting on his ski hat. He dressed in his maroon long-sleeved t-shirt and light denim jeans, and then took two stairs at a time down to the kitchen where he started making his breakfast. He was too nervous to eat a full meal, and hoped that his stomach was going to be stronger once Kevin picked him up for their lunch date.

Edd felt jumpy today, and excited and so stressed that he couldn't be still for more than half a minute at a time. He ran around the house, cleaned every little inch of it; he even scrubbed the dishwasher and laundry machine _twice_ before he was satisfied with them, and just as he had finished washing his hands the doorbell rang. He looked at the clock above the laundry bin in the downstairs bathroom, it couldn't be Kevin already; he wasn't going to be here in over an hour.

Eddward almost ran for the door, and when he opened it he gasped in surprise. "Kevin!"

Kevin, today wearing a white t-shirt underneath his black leather jacket to a pair of black jeans, took a deep breath and smiled with his entire face. "I was too nervous to just sit around in the house – wanna make it to brunch instead?"

Edd smiled widely back. "Let me just get my jacket!"

…

Instead of using his motorcycle today, Kevin had borrowed his mother's car that would take them to the city of Peach Creek. Edd didn't get a chance to ask where they were going, since Kevin was talking nonstop about just everything. He didn't mind it at all, though; he loved listening to Kevin's voice – it was deep and kind of veiling, a little raspy as if he had been sick for a while; but Edd knew that that was Kevin's natural voice… and it was so sexy.

Edd had a small problem with just a tiny thing during that ride, and that was that Kevin smoked a cigarette while driving, and though he had the window rolled down; the smoke still filled the car as the wind blew it all back in again. He didn't say anything about it, but Kevin noticed that every time he exhaled the smoke, Edd stopped breathing with a patient smile on his face. Kevin simply threw the cigarette out the window and kept talking about this football scholarship he could get after the big game in one and half weeks, and didn't light another cigarette again.

"Oh, sorry, I've been talking about myself all the way." Kevin said as he parked outside a small diner in the outskirt of the city, with a view over the lake. If they had continued driving further down the road they would've driven through the tunnel leading to their neighboring rival city Lemon Brook.

"No, it's fine." Edd hurried to say.

"Stay there!" Kevin smiled, got out of the car, ran around the hood and stopped as he reached the passenger side. He opened the door for Edd and waited for him to get out as well.

"Oh, thank you…" Edd thought that his face was eventually going to explode of all blood that was rushing to it all the time. He got out, and since Kevin held the door for him their bellies touched one another; like that time in the janitors' corridor – but now with some sexual tension mixed in. They both smiled awkwardly, and then Kevin shut the door behind him. "So… what is this place? I don't think that I've ever been here." Edd had a look around the area; it looked nice with the view of the lake, a harbor across the road and a tree line hiding the diner from the freeway leading out of town.

"My father used to take us here for breakfast when I was younger. They make killer waffles that I recommend you'd try."

…

They had a pleasant conversation while eating their waffles out on the porch to the diner, and Edd was surprised over how easy it was to talk to Kevin, and they laughed at old memories on the cul-de-sac. Kevin mentioned all the scams Eddy always lured Ed and Double D into, and how annoyed he, Kevin, got every time he figured out what they were trying to do.

"Now to think about it," he said with his mouth full of whipped cream and jam, "did Eddy ever do anything honest back then? I mean; was he genuinely thinking about someone else than himself?"

"Well, that's not fair. Eddy isn't evil; I just think that he intensely wanted to find a way to earn some money for us. He was just… a little more creative and a little less… less…"

"Wow, that's a _really_ nice way of saying that he was dumb!" Kevin laughed.

"I wouldn't say that he was… less intelligent; I was actually going to say that he was less consistent thinking. We were young, and he really, really wanted those jawbreakers." Edd tried his hardest to defend his friend, but the more he tried to stand up for him, the more he realized that his arguments wore thinner – Eddy was a scammer, and that's it.

"Oh, yeah, I'd almost forgotten about them. Are you guys still as obsessed with them as you were back then?"

"Not as much anymore; but I could still enjoy one from time to time."

Kevin reached down into his pocket and put a blue and green jawbreaker on the table between their plates, as if he was always carrying them around in his pockets. "Dessert?"

…

After the waffles and many, many jawbreakers, Edd and Kevin took a long stroll at the promenade along the docks and the harbor, and they kept talking and laughing about things Edd had never even thought about before. It wasn't only memories they talked about, but he could even challenge Kevin in some philosophy, and he didn't sound as… stupid… as jocks always seemed to be.

 _Bad, Eddward! You shouldn't encourage stereotypes_!

With Edd; Kevin sounded smart. And with Kevin; Eddward actually felt funny – he made Kevin laugh to tears at least five times while walking that boardwalk, and they both had to stop and recover every time before they moved on.

He almost didn't follow Kevin back to the car at three o'clock, but he knew that his friends were waiting; and he needed to help them prepare for the meeting in two hours.

"I had fun. Thank you." Edd told Kevin by the bus stop. He'd asked him to drop him off behind the bushes; something told him that he wanted to talk to Ed and Eddy before the rumors about him and Kevin dating reached them.

Kevin turned the engine off and looked at Edd. "Does this mean that you wanna do it again sometime?"

"I'd love that!" Edd replied almost the second after Kevin had asked the question. "I mean… yeah, sure… or some other casual answer …"

But Kevin chuckled; he actually thought that Eddward was cute or something. "Let's see if this will work now, then."

He unbuckled the seatbelt, and once again leaned towards Edd who stayed this time instead of trying to get away. His heart drummed inside his body as he felt Kevin's minty fresh breath bounce against his lips.

Kevin stopped, chuckled again and sat straight back in his seat. "I guess that we're not really there yet."

Eddward wiped his lips and looked at his finger; blood… again. "Sorry." He whispered.

"That's actually kinda amazing. I didn't know that I could make another person bleed from his nose just by _almost_ kissing him."

"Yeah… I'm as surprised as you are." Edd leaned back into the seat, facing the ceiling inside the car, pinching the bridge on his nose to try and stop the bleed. "Hey… by the way…" Eddward certainly didn't want to end this date right now; he wanted to be around Kevin a little bit longer – breathe in that sporty perfume of his as if his life depended on it. "We can bring guests to our meetings."

"Yeah?"

"You could… I mean… be my guest tonight… if you want to?"

"As a second date?"

"Yeah. As a second date. Or as an extension to this one."

"Sure. I'll be there!"

Kevin waited for Edd's nose to stop bleeding before driving off, and Edd began his walk towards Ed's house. He knocked on Ed's door and looked back at Kevin one last time before Kevin drove into the garage. They waved to each other, and then Eddy opened the door to Ed's house.

"Finally! We've been calling you all afternoon! Where have you been?"

 **Kevin**  
It's been too fast. Has it been too fast? It's too fast… isn't it?

Kevin didn't know how to reflect over the past events during the day. Last week he hated everyone and everything and now… he actually had friends, and a date, and it was just a really strange feeling. He couldn't believe it himself, it was like he was living someone else's life right now – this isn't him. He was a loner. Kevin Barr didn't _hang out_ , he didn't go to _parties_ for fun, or _dates;_ and he definitely didn't walk around _liking_ people. It was like he was normal… and it scared him a little now that he had a couple of hours to think. And what scared him more was that he was actually enjoying this; it felt so easy and natural.

The club meeting (man, that sounded nerdy as hell) was going to start half past five later today, and apparently they were serving pizza, chips and other snacks during the movie and the discussion afterwards. Kevin had no clue of what he was getting in on; he wasn't smart enough to _discuss_ a movie. He could watch it, eat some pizza but that would be it; he only wanted to go because he wanted to be close to Eddward, but now that he had few minutes to reflect over it he realized it could be a problem – maybe Edd wanted their relationship to be a secret? Kevin wanted it to be a secret too, of course… so why is he going to this stupid nerd meeting with other people again?

He decided that he was going because he wanted to impress Eddward. Not to show him how much he knows about the horror movie business (which he had zero experience in) but to show him what he can go through for him… show a little interest in _his_ interests. So Kevin mentally patted his own back for being _such_ an unselfish person as he crossed the cul-de-sac fifteen minutes to six (god forbid if he'd been the first one to arrive there) and stopped outside the door to Ed Hill's house. He corrected his cap before ringing the doorbell and checked his breath by blowing into his palm and sniffing it. He felt stupid for doing so since he'd only seen people doing that in movies and realized that it didn't help that much anyway…

The door opened only a few seconds after he'd rung the bell, and Jimmy Christensen was the one answering it. Oh, right; he and Sarah must still be best friends.

"Uh… hello?" Jimmy asked in his squeaky little voice, wide eyed, and refused to let Kevin in.

"Yeah, I'm here for some movie night. Aren't the Eds here?" Kevin asked in a bored tone on his voice.

"Who invited you?" Kevin heard another voice behind Jimmy, who backed away from the door and got replaced with Ed Hill's baby sister Sarah.

"Double D invited me. Just let me in already."

"Hey, mister, this is my house!" Sarah hissed; like an angered alley cat. "My house – my rules! Get it, scatterbrain?"

Someone cleared his throat behind her in the hallway. "It's quite alright, Sarah. I did indeed invite Kevin to our club meeting this evening. I can certify that."

Kevin gave her an "aren't-you-gonna-let-me-in?"-smile, and waited for her to open the door for him. She growled, and then she took Jimmy's hand and stormed up the stairs with him behind her.

"I guess she hasn't forgiven me for what I did to you… Are they going to be here all night?" Kevin asked Edd.

"No. Or, I think that they're going to be around the house, but they never disturb us whenever we're in the basement."

"I love that you turn into this big worded, unduly polite gentleman whenever you tell people to fuck off."

" _Unduly_ – look who's using big words."

They shared a little laugh, and then they silenced. The door closed behind Kevin, both stopped breathing for a moment – standing in this narrow hallway, next to a stair and a door leading to who knows where, face to face with someone they had just started dating; felt more intimate than what the whole brunch date had done altogether. None of them dared looking into the others' eyes; Kevin knew that if they locked eyes, he was going to drag Edd into some secluded room and do him right there and then…

But…

… even though he didn't know Edd in this particular way yet; he still knew that he wasn't that kind of person. Eddward Vincent was that kind you eased into, someone you should court and woo before you-

"Right! They're all here and are probably waiting for us downstairs. Shall we?" Edd stared at Kevin's left shoulder and tried to reach for the door to Kevin's left. He was so adorable when he behaved all nervous.

They quietly walked down the stairs to the basement and got closer to another door where voices from at least ten people came from. They entered a room with a strong smell of all kinds of chemicals, as if it had been cleaned and sanitized after a mass murdering or a festival where people had been puking and went to the bathroom everywhere and anywhere. It was a bedroom, and Kevin understood that it was Ed's bedroom. But why had he been cleaning it so thoroughly for a simple movie night?

Enough about the room though – with one wide window high up on the wall; a queen-sized bed against another wall; a desk with a chair; a couch and a few big pillows scattered around the floor all facing a (at least fifty inch) big flat screen TV with a cupboard underneath – Kevin looked at all the new (except for Ed, Eddy and May's) faces.

"Hi, Greyhound!" Ed said loudly from the chair by the desk; Kevin felt a bit more comforted now that Ed seemed so happy to have him there.

"What's up, Beefhead." Kevin mumbled with a quick nod towards him.

May Kanker sat on his lap and waved at Kevin with a big smile on her face.

Unlike Eddy: "Finally! Can we start watching the freaking movie already?!"

"Patience, Eddy, please." Edd gave him a strict glare. "Everyone; this is Kevin. He is my guest tonight, and I hope that we can all make him and May feel welcome to their first meeting, and wish that they will be back with us next school year. And Kevin," Kevin's heart skipped a beat when Edd ever so lightly touched his arm, "You've met Ed, Eddy and May before," (Eddy rolled his eyes and groaned), "but are you familiar with Becky," he pointed at a dark haired girl with glasses in the couch next to, "Matthew," a round guy with black, greasy, curly hair and glasses as well, "his brother Brent," he pointed at a guy looking like a skinnier version of Matthew, sitting on the bed, "Landon and Madison." a blonde guy and a red haired girl sat on the bed with Brent.

"Hi. I'm Kevin." Kevin put one hand awkwardly in the air in front of him, as in a half greeting.

"Hi, Kevin." Everyone else said as if this was an AA meeting.

It was quiet for a few seconds, and for the first time in his life Kevin felt relieved that Eddy opened his big mouth: "Movie? Anyone? Or are we gonna make this awkward silence to this nights theme?"

Matthew, or Brent, or whoever of the brothers the big guy was, pointed the remote controller at the TV and started the movie. May stood up to close the blinds over the window and Edd turned to Kevin. "We're going to order pizza after the movie, but feel free to grab snacks from the table over there." He whispered, and pointed at a table just inside the door that Kevin had missed. There were bottles with different kinds of soda but also water, and bowls with popcorn, chips and dip and… chopped up carrots.

Being too nervous to eat anything, Kevin just whispered back: "Thanks. Hey, can I stand here by the door?" Maybe this was a really bad idea after all.

"Wait." Edd winked at Kevin, took two big pillows from the floor and dragged them to the back wall where the bed was, but closer to the door. "From this angle we will still be able to see the TV around the couch."

"Thanks." Kevin sat on the pillow Edd handed him and leaned back against the wall.

Edd did the same and then they sat there; side by side, all quiet and watched the movie, and Kevin knew that Edd felt as nervous as he did. Though they didn't touch each other, the air between their arms and legs was at least a hundred degrees hotter than the rest of the room. It was like the ten inch space between them was heating up the entire room, and it felt like every inch of Kevin's left leg and arm itched like he had some kind of skin disease. But he knew that if he scratched the itch; he was definitely going to touch Edd by accident, and everyone would figure out there's something going on between them!

They had been this close to each other before, hadn't they? Yeah; that time in the girls' locker room, the day he gave Double D his black eye (that actually looked much better now and almost didn't show at all) – they had been sitting this close to each other that day and it had not felt this awkward back then… well, back then Kevin hadn't had all his hormones flying around his body like crazy, or his blood flooding through his veins as if it was confused over where it should be – up in his head and face, or down in his-

Edd moved a little on his left, and he actually made a move! Kevin tensed up when he realized what his date was discreetly trying to do – he had put his hand on the floor between them, hiding in between the pillows, waiting for Kevin to take it or simply put his hand over it. That was brilliant! They were sitting in the back corner of the room, in the darkness, and everybody was watching the movie and there was no reason at all to look back and notice anything.

Whoa; what a weird feeling being this excited over a hand.

Edd's fingers twitched a little against Kevin's trunks (yes, it was so hot outside that he'd decided to change from jeans to swimming trunks before going over to Ed's house), and he slowly moved his own hand to Edd's. When they touched it felt like electricity ran throughout Kevin's body. He bent his right knee a little to discreetly get a little closer to his date, and they accidentally looked at each other at the same time. Eddward gave Kevin the most shy and adorable smile, and Kevin smiled back. His eyes were tearing up out of frustration; he tried to control every urge of pressing his whole mouth against those pink lips and shove his tongue right down Edd's throat-

They both jumped as the red haired girl shrieked from the bed and all the guys in the room started to laugh – someone in the movie was being brutally murdered by an alien; and since boys will be boys, they found the amount of blood cool and funny.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" Ed chuckled as he hugged May tighter in his lap. She giggled and kissed him on the top of his head.

"You're such a geek." She said playfully.

Kevin looked at the skinny greasy guy and the blonde guy in the bed that gave each other a high five… he felt that he wasn't going to come back to these club meetings, so maybe he didn't have to remember their names.

He leaned back again and puffed; though they hadn't lived out Kevin's dreams, it felt like this had been a close one. He glanced at Eddward who just stared at the screen; he smiled a little but looked upset over that his plan to secretly hold hands had been trashed by those stupid movie aliens. Kevin moved a little closer to him. Now touching shoulders he put his hand, palm facing upwards, on the place where their pillows touched between them, and waited for Edd to notice.

He noticed right away, put his hand in Kevin's open palm, and then Kevin closed his fingers around Edd's. Their hands were sweaty, but they didn't let go until the end of the movie, and May stood up again to open up the blinds.

"Okay! A short restroom break until the pizza arrives, and then this meeting is officially started." Said Eddy with his cellphone in his hand, ready to dial the number to the pizza delivery place. "Two peperoni pizzas, three calzones, one with pineapple…" he glanced condescendingly at the blonde guy who just shrugged. "… one lactose free Caesar salad for Sockhead, only fries for Becky, two burger meals, and… do you want anything, Barr?"

"Wow, you're actually talking to me, Sampson! And you almost managed to sound sincere." Kevin chuckled, and everyone stared at him as if they waited for him to be his old bully self. "Make those peperoni pizzas to three, please. Thank you very much, Eddy." Though it was only an _act_ of politeness, the members of the Horror Movie Club puffed out in relief.

Eddy, on the other hand, saw through Kevin's charade and began grinding his teeth, but he put on a fake smile on his face and started dialing the number on his phone. " _Hey, let's invite Shovel-chin to the meeting. It'll be such a good idea, it'll be fun…_ " he mumbled to himself, distorted his voice to sound like some annoying person. Kevin suspected that he was mimicking Double D, but he hadn't called Kevin 'shovel-chin' at the time he'd suggested to invite Kevin.

"Well, I need to take some air." Kevin nodded awkwardly to the others, who still didn't want to say anything yet, and left the room.

He went out on the back of Ed's house and sat down on a chair on the porch. Well, this was going… well. At least he and Sampson hadn't started a physical fight yet – no blood no worry, right? Maybe Kevin didn't have to be there for the discussion? Maybe he could sneak out now and try another time with Eddward? He inhaled some smoke from his freshly lit cig and made many small smoke rings while watching the thinner trees swing from side to side in the wind.

The door to the house opened and he quickly tried to hide the cigarette – he shouldn't be out here smoking if Ed's parents would've been home – but it was only Edd. "Oh, god, I thought it could be Ed's mom."

"Don't worry about them; they're on their second honey moon in the Maldives."

"Wow! For how long?"

Edd walked up to the table and sat down on a chair next to Kevin. "They've been gone for a week now, and will be home next Wednesday – they're not going to miss the game Saturday night, you know."

"Right, because Ed's on the team, his parents will be there. But why isn't he having parties here?"

Edd shrugged. "There's something you need to know about Eddy, by the way…"

"I know; I'm having a hard time being around him. What's his problem?"

"Change is really hard on him, and… well, I guess that I can tell you this, I mean… since you've shown me that you're not – how did you put it? – playing for the other team?"

Kevin chuckled. "You're really cute right now, you know that?"

"Shut up." Edd's cheeks turned darker. "What I'm trying to say is that Eddy… Eddy likes… someone… that we think has a crush on you and… I wish that I could tell him that you won't be dating her but… I mean, I don't even know if you will someday…"

"I'm not bi…" Kevin mumbled. This subject was a little hard talking about at the moment, but Kevin really wanted to gain Eddward's trust; and this was hard to talk about for him too. "I can assure you that I won't steal this girl from Sampson, whoever she is."

"Hearing you say that actually lifts two rocks from my shoulders." Edd sighed. "But that is mostly his problems right now; that he thinks that you're gonna steal the girl of his dreams from him, and the fact that you've always been fighting each other. Rome wasn't built in one day, and the same saying goes for Eddy; he needs a little bit more time than others to adapt."

Kevin nodded, lips perched. "I think that I get him more now that you've told me this. I'll try to be nicer to him even if he's passive aggressive towards me."

"That's all I'm asking. Thank you, Kevin. For understanding." Edd put his hand on Kevin's knee, but quickly pulled it back again. "And I will talk to him too."

"Yeah…"

He didn't know if that was such a good idea, but he guessed that Double D knew what he was doing. He was really smart after all.

Kevin put out the cigarette on the wooden porch floor and then put it in his pocket. "I'm gonna throw this away later…" he mumbled when he noticed that Edd was looking.

They both stood up to join the others in the basement, but Kevin didn't want to act all biblical just yet. He grabbed Edd's arm and turned him around.

"What are you…" Edd stopped talking as Kevin forced him to back up and gasped as he felt the house wall on his back, and was pinned against the wall with Kevin's crotch pressed against his. "K-Kevin?"

Kevin loved having this kind of power over a person; not that he wanted to manipulate Edd into doing anything he didn't want to, but he loved the way Edd was acting around him… nervous… shy… and the fact that it was he, Kevin, who did it to him!

He put his hands on the wall on each side of Eddward's head, and analyzed his face for every little change. Eddward Vincent actually had beautiful skin; it was freaking perfect! And soft… it didn't look like he was shaving, as if the hair growth in his face hadn't started yet. His dark eyebrows were, as girls say to each other, on fleek – perfect as well, and his dark hair sticking out from under the ski hat looked soft and shiny. Those blue eyes… there were no words good enough to describe those big, glittery sapphires.

"You're more beautiful up close… I haven't noticed that before…" Kevin whispered, leaning closer to Edd's face, slowly… breathed through his mouth in a soft moan… He chuckled and backed away just before their lips touched.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Edd tried to stop his nosebleed with both his hands. His eyebrows were angry, but his cheeks were dark pink out of excitement.

"I love that I can do that to you." Kevin bit his bottom lip mischievously.

"Don't you understand that I'm actually losing blood here? Do you know that blood is essential for a human to survive?"

"Aw, I'm sorry…" Kevin put his hands on the wall again, but on each side of Edd's shoulders this time. "It's just… I'm gonna miss this in a few weeks when you're all used to me…"

"At least that will increase my chances to live, I hope."

Kevin chuckled from the angry tone on Edd's voice, kissed him on a small spot on his cheek that wasn't covered behind his hands and went to open the door to the house. "Come on, dork; let's clean that up and then we go eat some pizza with your nerdy friends."


	11. The person behind the mask

Comments: **  
dshell99** : omg your comment made me laugh out loud reading it! Yes, I know, I too am seriously sick and tired of this constant crying about that stupid pinapple on pizza bull! So I felt that _if_ I wanted a "meme" in this story, then that was the one to slip in! Personally I have never tried pinapple on pizza, but I tried banana once and was surprised that I really did like it! So, surprises everywhere ^^ And thank you for being patient! I do love to drag everything out to the point where the cliff hangers are just ridiculously cliff hangy, and then surprise the readers with something whole else :) Thank you for the comment!  
 **SvartaAnkan** : I loved seeing you commenting again! I've missed you and welcome back ^^ And yes! You were right about those ten feet, I don't know what I was thinking, even in the metric system the digit 10 would be too far away or too weird (10 meters or 10 decimeters? Who says 10 dm instead of one meter, eh?), so I changed it :) tackar! Och här kommer nästa kapitel!  
 **Jay** : Here's more! :D  
 **Guest** : Thank you for the comment! I will keep trying to make you happy!  
 **SvartaAnkan** : Är det du som är guest? Tack i alla fall för kommentaren! ^^

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* * *

 **The person behind the mask**

 **Eddward**  
This day was turning out to be one of the best days of Edd's life. He would've never imagined that something like this would ever happen to him; that someone he liked would actually like him back. Well, something _like_ this would hopefully happen some day in the future, but not now, and not with one of Peach Creek high school's most popular football players; Kevin Barr. Though only almost twenty four hours had passed since Kevin snuck into Edd's bedroom, this whole _spending all day together_ felt natural and so right. It felt insane that someone like _him_ would actually be interested in someone like Edd, and he had a few seconds to spare to reflect over this while everyone ate their pizzas in Ed's basement.

Eddward glanced at Kevin, who was talking about football with Ed, stuffing his whole face full of pepperoni pizza. Then he looked down on his own plate with Caesar salad and lactose free Caesar dressing… Like magnets, Edd had heard that opposites attract, but this was just… weird. He dipped a piece of chicken in the dressing and looked at Kevin again, analyzed him. He looked so confident, talking about his interests with a team mate, mouth full of pizza and greasy fingers that he wiped off on his swimming trunks. For some reason Edd didn't mind that; he thought that Kevin was just being typically boyish… and sort of cute.

Were they ever going to be official? What would other people think of them being so different from each other? Or was this just a secret summer fling that was going to end once Kevin moved from the cul-de-sac to his college after the summer while Edd stayed behind for his senior year in high school?

Edd knew that it was too early to think about things like this right now; they had only gone out _one_ day, he shouldn't worry about these things in at least a few months.

"Alright, let's discuss the movie." Said Matthew, closed his pizza box and put it to the side. "Anyone that feel that he or she would like to start?"

"I can start." Said Kevin and cleared his throat. "The blood. It looked really unrealistic; both color and consistence, and it was just too much of it."

"That was exactly what I was thinking!" said Brent, Matthew's younger brother. "I mean, did the director think that the human body consists of ninety percent blood and ten percent skeleton?"

"Right? And then make it in that kind of putrid orange color?" Kevin laughed. He folded another slice of pizza, stuffed it in his mouth and started chewing it as the others agreed.

"Okay, how about this", said Landon, boyfriend to Madison, "I really love this old way of doing makeup and the special effects, right? But some of the aliens just looked sooo sloppy."

"Yes! Exactly!" Ed exclaimed.

Landon continued, much more enthusiastic than before. "I didn't want to point that out during the movie because I didn't want to ruin it for everyone!"

"We all noticed." Said Eddy and did a kind of arrogant swing with his fingers. "Some of them really looked like shit. I mean, what happened during the production of the movie? Were the ugly aliens sloppier because they were in the background as extras, and you don't have to put down any work on them because the audience wouldn't notice their fugly faces?"

"I know!"

Double D was quietly sitting there while the others discussed different notes dealing the movie and laughed about it. Kevin was sitting next to him on the couch that they had turned around and moved closer to the bed where Eddy, Ed, May, Landon, Madison and Matthew sat. Becky sat on his other side, Edd being in the middle, and Brent sat on the armchair underneath the window. Edd and Kevin were so close to each other, that whenever Kevin excitedly moved around, or waved with his hands when he said something, their bodies touched, and sent a shiver throughout Edd's back. He wanted this moment to last forever – he could openly touch the guy he was in love with, but without it feeling so intimate his burning cheeks would be exposing him, around his friends.

How many times hadn't he already fantasized about this exact moment?

"Am I doing this right?" Kevin whispered all of a sudden to his right, the others' voices being too excited and loud for anyone to eavesdrop on them.

"Yes. You can critique anything you'd like to discuss." Edd replied. "And you fit in perfectly."

"I don't know if that's good or bad." Kevin chuckled teasingly. "Fitting in with nerds, I mean."

"You're doing a great job, anyway. They like you." Edd looked at his friends, and then back at Kevin.

"You know what, dork? I think that I like your friends too." Kevin raised his eyebrows, as if he was going to say something that he'd never thought he'd ever say. "Thank you for inviting me. I'm actually having fun."

"You're welcome. Thank you for coming."

Everyone left ten o'clock except for the Eds and Kevin; who stayed and helped them clean up the pizza boxes and take all the dishes upstairs. Kevin still hadn't gotten any closer to one of Edd's best friends; Eddy; but he was doing his best. Whenever Eddy said anything mean about or to Kevin, Kevin just shrugged, and didn't show any signs of getting upset about it. It was a good strategy, since Eddy stopped after a while as if he was thinking the whole night over.

"Thanks again for helping us." Said Edd. He and Kevin walked on the sidewalk between Kevin's and Eddy's houses, they had just dropped Eddy off who lived right next to the jock. Edd wanted to follow Kevin home before crossing the street to his own house.

"No problem at all… hey." They stopped outside Kevin's house, and he looked up at Eddward with his penetrating hazel eyes. Edd's legs felt like overcooked pasta again. "If you're not too tired, maybe you'd want to follow me to the lake? It's really warm outside still."

How could Edd possibly say no to yet _another_ extension to this date? "Sure. But how are we getting there?"

"Have you ever been on a motorcycle before?"

So much had happened during this Saturday; things that Edd would normally frown upon and strictly say no to were now things that he couldn't wait to try. He had never touched anything as dangerous as a motorcycle before, and now he felt the wind blow past him as he flew through the forest on the roads on this killing machine. The biggest reason as of why he felt safe enough was the person sitting in front of him, and he had his arms tightly wrapped around his chest. He put his head against Kevin's back and breathed in his scent that was stuck in the helmet that Kevin had lent out to him.

Edd had been a little upset over that Kevin was driving this thing without a helmet, but he was longing to be close the jock much more, so he had just put the helmet on his head (that had the most concentrated smell of Kevin Barr), jumped up on the bike behind him and forgot about everything else.

Kevin glanced back at Edd and slowed down a little, making this moment last at least a couple of minutes longer. The sun had already set by the horizon, but it was still kind of light outside, and warm. The wind blowing past them smelled like trees and asphalt, it was humid, as if it was going to start to rain soon.

Ten minutes on the road, that felt like seconds, later, Kevin turned off the engine right where the side of the road stopped, and the sand on the beach started, and leaned the beast to the side to support their, and its, entire weight with his foot. Edd couldn't help but be impressed over how strong Kevin must be in his left leg, but being the Quarterback three years straight must result in some very strong leg muscles. He carefully slid down from the bike and pulled the helmet off. Kevin waited for Edd to get off before he swung his leg over the bike as well, kicked down the kickstand and backed away from it.

He turned around and looked at Edd, and widened his eyes. Edd had no idea what he was seeing, quickly turned around to see if someone stood behind him, and then turned back to face Kevin again.

"What?" he asked him since they were the only two people around.

But Kevin still didn't say anything. He looked like he was really trying to say something, but he just seemed like he couldn't. He kept staring an inch above Edd's left eye, and Edd slowly grasped what had happened.

He dropped the helmet he was holding as his hands darted up to his head faster than an oiled lightning. He panicked – his ski hat wasn't on his head, and Kevin had seen everything! Even the emergency hairpins that usually kept his hair at least a _little_ tame (in case he would someday drop his hat they would temporarily let the watcher _think_ that he was normal, until he had a chance to hide it again) were gone as well.

His heart was racing and he quickly spun around to hide his forehead from the one person he least wanted to know about it. "I'm so embarrassed!" Edd crouched down as he felt the tears of shame burn in his eyes, both hands tightly pressed on his forehead and elbows pressed against his stomach as if to try and keep his body from exploding.

Some kind of fabric graced the side of his head, and Edd quickly grabbed his ski hat that was handed to him, and put it on his head, sobbing. "It got caught in the helmet when you took it off…" he heard Kevin mumble behind him. "I'm really sorry for that…"

"It's not your fault." Edd sobbed. He tried to calm down, though this whole date was already ruined.

Kevin sighed, walked over to Edd and sat down on the sand right next to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't more discreet about it, but really; you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"But it's so ugly!" Edd, who had been crouching this whole time, also sat down, pulled his knees closer to his body and hugged them with his arms.

"You know what? It really isn't that bad. I'm being totally honest here; I thought that you were hiding something really horrible underneath that hat all these years, that it would be something so terrifying I would be having nightmares about it if I ever had the chance to see it. Like-" Kevin chuckled a little. "Like tentacles or something really nightmarish… But when I turned around one minute ago, and saw your hair for the first time, I was surprised that it wasn't anything else hiding under there."

Edd whimpered; he didn't want to hear what Kevin thought about his secret, but Kevin didn't care, and continued:

"I finally saw Eddward Vincent without his icon hat… and he was stunning. He was not the monster I had imagined in my head… sorry… he was actually really, really cute… and I apologize, but I was actually relieved that I was wrong about what I was first expecting." he started stroking Edd's back, comforted him. "And what I saw was _you_."

Edd had never shown his hair to anyone outside of his circle before; only Ed and Eddy knew, and they'd tried to help him about his problem, but nothing seemed to be able to fix him. When he was younger, his mother had sent him to an excessive amount of different therapists about his obsession and anxiety, but just like everything else; nothing helped.

This was the first time, though, he actually believed the other person when he said that it wasn't that bad looking. Of course Ed didn't do it as much anymore… if you didn't count that whole week he stayed home from school…

"Do you really mean that?" Edd wiped his tears. He'd stopped crying.

"I really do. I don't mean to diminish your entire feeling around your hair; I get why you'd _think_ that you look ugly; but it _actually_ does not look as bad as you think. I, for one, like you even better now… and you're cute."

"Cute?" Edd's heart started pounding again as he began feeling angry. "You think that this abomination is _cute_?!" He pulled off his hat again and Kevin looked directly at his hair.

Angry tears began falling from his eyes as he stared into Kevin's face, looked for any change in it; looked for a sign of nausea. But instead of turning green, Kevin's face started turning a few shades darker and he moved. Edd jumped; he noted that Kevin's hand moved upwards and Kevin stopped; but only momentarily, since he continued reaching towards Eddward's forehead again after he'd made sure that Edd would let him.

Edd groaned again as he felt Kevin's fingers starting following the shape of the ugly, ugly bald patch in the front of his head, fingers light as feathers. The spot where Edd had been pulling his hairs, one straw at a time, whenever he felt anxious or nervous. It was a habit he had created as a child, and he guessed it was better than cutting himself or… something worse. Nonetheless; it was a bad habit that no one was able to correct for him.

Kevin puffed shakily, started combing Edd's wild black hair backwards, and then locked eyes with him. His green eyes looked unfocused at first, and then they focused again. "This is the first time I see you without the hat…" he whispered, as he couldn't believe it himself. He took down his hand again, became serious. "Is it okay if I ask questions or… I don't mind if you don't wanna talk about it either, just-"

"You don't have to ask…" Edd took a deep breath. "I wasn't born like this; I did this to myself. I've seen therapists about it but I can't seem to stop pulling my hair… it's some kind of obsession whenever I get nervous. It looks a lot better now than it did before, though; now I only pull the hairs in the front. When I was younger I plucked every hair on top of my head as well." He looked up at the jock. "I started again last week when I was staying home from school… That's why I look like this. I guess that you want to leave now… I can walk home."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "This doesn't change what I feel about you." He stroke Edd's hair again and smiled. "I don't think that _I_ have the power to help you stop doing this to yourself, but I can at least try. I wanna see you without that hat a lot more in the future. You're cute with it, but I like you more without it."

They both stopped to look at each other for a few seconds, and something inside of Edd clicked. The person he liked wasn't running away from him; but he was actually touching Edd's hair, without his ski hat, as if it was nothing. Kevin actually understood him, and he didn't make a big deal out of this. And now they looked at each other; with that excitement building up between them once again, that drumroll that bangs inside of your chest when you just know that maybe this is it; you're going to have your first kiss with this person. But before they leaned in for that magic first kiss; Edd gasped and held his breath.

Blood was running down _Kevin's_ face this time; _he_ had got the nosebleed.

The jock wiped his nose on the front of his t-shirt. "Shit, I forgot I had my white shirt today…" he looked up, and then smiled mischievously. "Oh, well, I don't need this anymore, do I?" he stood up and pulled it off together with his black leather jacket, and then he took off his red baseball cap and hung it on one of the bike's rear mirrors.

Edd didn't know what to say, but he took Kevin's hand as he reached for him, and Kevin helped him up. He didn't know where to look at first; he was too shy to look directly at Kevin's sculpted, Quarter back abs; but then he realized what Kevin meant to show him. He had long scars on his chest and stomach, as if someone had been cutting him, and now he wanted to show Edd that he had nothing to be ashamed of. Edd felt embarrassed for thinking that his own self-harm had been something to feel bad about, but after seeing the jock's scars; he had a change of mind… He couldn't even imagine what Kevin had gone through, and was too shaken up to ask him about them.

Kevin smiled a crooked smile, and turned around. His back had even more scars than his front side; it was covered in deep, pink tears, and Kevin turned around again. "We all have a past." He said. "I feel comfortable enough with you."

Kevin started pulling down his red pizza grease covered swimming trunks and kicked his shoes off at the same time.

"Oh-" Edd didn't have time to finish whatever he was going to say; Kevin grabbed his arms and quickly pressed his lips against Edd's before he could object, before his nose had the time to start to bleed again. It was a hasty kiss, but it was the best kiss Edd could ever imagine, and then it was over.

"Let's swim." Kevin said excitedly. He had no more clothes to take off; he was standing in front of Edd, only two feet away from him, butt naked; his whole body covered in scars but not at all ashamed of them.

Edd was still in shock after the kiss and didn't know what to say, but Kevin chukled and began walking across the beach and down to the lake. He looked so confident, walking like that with his muscular body… Edd couldn't stop staring at his naked backside the entire time, and woke up again only when he heard Kevin shout from the water:

"Come on, Sockhead! The water is warm!"

Once again Edd did something that he would never imagine doing in a million years – he actually did as Kevin did and started stripping down to his birthday suite, and followed Kevin down to the lake. He looked back one last time at his neatly folded pile of clothes he was leaving behind him on the ground next to the motorcycle, with his precious ski hat lying flat on top of it.

This _was_ actually the best day of his life; this was the day he dared to be _himself_.

 **Kevin  
** The rain was pouring outside, once again, and it didn't seem to want to stop. But that was okay, seeing Kevin was sitting in a dry and warm kitchen this morning, sipping coke and trying to read something from a heavy book. Nazz had already figured out that he wasn't as dumb as he portrayed himself as; he did, in fact, have higher grades than the average student on Peach Creek High – he was just not showing that to anyone, nor telling anybody about it. People thought that he was just charming the teachers at school to get good grades without doing actual work; but oh, they'd been so wrong about that. It was actually a kind of an insult to even think that a teacher would fall for some handsome teenager's charming smile – of course they didn't give him good grades just because they liked him. So that had only been a rumor.

This morning though, Kevin only pretended to read the book Nazz gave him, because he was too absent minded to think of anything else than last night, when the rain was just about to start. He had been standing in the lake a few feet from the beach, the water level reaching to his belly button, and he had been looking deep into the eyes of the boy in front of him; with a bald patch just above his forehead and a gap between his front teeth. Kevin wanted to talk to him, he wanted to get to know him better but none of them had anything to say at that moment.

He looked at the boy in front of him; and he wasn't at all skinny without his clothes as he first imagined – Eddward Vincent was actually kind of fit. It looked like he had been working out (not like lifting weights, but at least doing _some_ kind of work out), so maybe he actually _had_ been trying out for the basketball team. He was tall and slender, and had the right muscles on just the right places… so he _could_ be a basketball player.

After a few long, stolen kisses under the moon, the rain drops started to fall down on their bare arms and heads. They looked at each other and laughed, and then they hurried to the motorcycle, got dressed in their already wet clothes and drove on the slippery road back to the cul-de-sac. Eddward was clinging onto the jock; digging his face into his back, with Kevin's leather jacket on his body since Kevin didn't want him to catch a cold.

After one last kiss good night in the middle of the cul-de-sac and the pouring rain, they parted ways.

Kevin woke up eight o'clock this Sunday morning and straight away remembered that he had promised Nazz to have a breakfast study over at her house, and hurried across the rainy neighborhood to be on time.

They were finished eating since it had been one hour since Kevin got here, and he hadn't done much work at all. And to snap him out of his day dreaming, Nazz asked him: "Hey, what are you thinking about?" she smiled mischievously – of course she was familiar with the look on his face.

"Uh… football… and rain… I-" Kevin sat up straight in the chair, looked out the window, cleared his throat. "I need to jog, but it's pouring outside."

"Come on, you can't fool me!" Nazz took a sip on her tea. "I've seen that look before. Maybe not on _your_ face, but I can see that you're thinking about something special… or… _someone_ special."

"I'm not thinking about anyone- I mean anything!" his face started to feel warm.

"Aha!" Nazz exclaimed. "Sooooo… who is she?"

Kevin was surprised that she didn't behave like she was at all interested in him; hadn't _she_ tried to seduce him only seven days prior? Or is this how girls do it? Is she testing him to see if she still has a chance with him, but tries to trick him into believing that she doesn't care?

"There is no _she_." Kevin said truthfully. He wanted to drink from his coke, but his hands were shaking so much that he kept them hidden in his lap under the table.

Nazz stared at him, and didn't look away once. She wanted to stare him down, and she won; Kevin nervously looked out the window again and then back at her.

"That didn't mean anything." He tried.

"Come on, Kevin, tell me about her! Please; I won't tell anyone else, I promise!" she begged.

"As I said; there is no _her_ , there is no _girl_ what so ever, so you can just stop this now, and go back to-"

"Okay!" she cut him off. "Alright! You win, Kevin. I actually saw you last night; and if you don't wanna tell me about it then you don't have to. For now. Because I will start, okay?"

"You- you saw me? Start what?" he began sweating, but still tried to look like he had no idea what she was talking about.

"Yes, I saw you with someone last night. That beast you're driving woke me up one o'clock, and when I sat up in bed and looked out the window I saw you and this person kiss each other in the middle of the cul-de-sac, and when the lights from your bike turned to your house, I lost the sight of your midnight mistress. You know; because of the rain and that the lights in this area shuts off whenever they get a little bit water on them." She waited for Kevin to say something, but he just looked at her with open mouth. She smiled, bit her tongue and leaned forward over the table. "Oh, my gosh; you're actually not trying to object! So it _was_ a girl I saw you with?"

"No." Kevin cleared his throat since his _no_ had been really weak. He started massaging his temples with shaky hands and chuckled nervously. "I-I don't know what you're-"

"You don't have to, Kevin. Not yet. As I said; I will start." Nazz's smile disappeared; she really didn't look like she wanted to tell anyone what she was going to say, but at the same time wanted to clear her conscience. "First thing first; last Saturday night… was a weak moment for me. I had been drinking, and my mind was somewhere whole else." She stopped, and sighed, started grinding her teeth a little. "There is a guy… and I like him… I mean, a lot." She looked up. "I'm sorry, Kevin, but it's not you… I was just… trying to distract myself from thinking of him and I was only fooling myself when I thought that maybe you… I'm so sorry… It wasn't fair to you. Well, now I know that you stopped me from doing what I was doing because you already liked someone, but I couldn't forgive myself if you had… I mean, what if you actually liked me? What if we had gone all the way that night?"

Kevin didn't want to correct her; he hadn't stopped her last Saturday because he was seeing someone else, but she didn't have to know that. "Come on…" He groaned. This was something he didn't want to talk about at all, but at the same time; he didn't want his friend to feel so much guilt about it. "We're past that. Okay? There's nothing to forgive. We're cool."

"Do you promise that?" her eyes were shiny, and Kevin nodded. "Okay… thank you…"

"So… this guy you like? Why did you want to forget about him in the first place? Does he know how you feel about him?" Kevin was impressed by himself, coming up with such good things to say at the moment. And second of all; he was extremely relieved that she wasn't in love with _him_.

"No… or, I don't think that he actually knows how I feel. I mean… I don't _want_ to have these feelings for him, but I just can't stop thinking about him either… all the time… every day…"

"Is he, like, a teacher or something?" Kevin asked, tried not to sound too judging. Why didn't she _want_ to like him? It must be due to her being too young for him or something.

"No…" she bit her lip. "Nothing like that."

"Then who is it? Is it someone I know?"

"Well… kinda…" she didn't want Kevin to know just yet, it seemed, and he didn't want to pressure her to say any names.

"Okay… tell me why you can't be with him instead. Is he married?"

"No."

"Is he… older than you?"

"No…"

"So he's the same age as us?" Nazz nodded. "So what is then? Does he have a girlfriend already? Does he go to our school?"

Nazz was quiet for a bit. "No… I don't think so, I actually don't know… and… he _sort_ _of_ goes to our school…"

"An exchange student?"

"No..."

"Okay, I have no further questions…" Kevin remembered the red thread in his own hesitation about telling her about _his_ secret date. "Nazz… is it a girl?" he asked in a lower voice.

Nazz started laughing hysterically. "Oh, god no!"

"What?" Kevin smiled.

"I was just not prepared on that!" she laughed. "No, I'm sorry, no; it's not a girl. I'm _actually_ in love with a guy."

Kevin stopped smiling. "Oh… you _love_ him? It's that bad, huh?"

Nazz stopped laughing as well, and gave him a sad smile back. "Yeah… and I don't think that I will ever have the courage to tell him that."

"Of course you will! He's our age, he isn't seeing anyone and he goes to our school. What's stopping you? Is he ugly?"

"No, nothing like that." She giggled. "He's very handsome. I love the way he looks, and I love his personality… he's so… gah, I can't describe him! But I just _can't_ … I don't want to be with someone like him…" she sighed, deeply. "It's just not _me_. But if I ever saw him with someone else… I think that my heart would just shatter into million pieces."

"So what is really stopping you?" From the description of this Prince Charming of Nazz's; he sounded like a catch; but something about him was a deal breaker for her. It seemed like she didn't really mind that, but other people would think less of _her_ if she started dating him. "Is he a drug addict or something? Or a brother to one of your friends? Ooh! Does one of your friends also like him?"

"No…" Nazz sighed with a smile. "I guess that I can tell you about him. After all; I said that I would start. Okay… remember when we first started Peach Creek High?"

"Yeah?"

"I was, kind of, best friends with Jonny Grove back then. I joined the cheerleading team and quickly became friends with the popular girls in school. Guys did everything to impress me, they asked me out and tried to get me drunk every opportunity they were given. But I told them that I was already dating someone, just to get them off my back. I said that Jonny and I… that…"

"You said that you and Jonny were an item?" Kevin asked her. He didn't want to jump any conclusions yet; the story had just begun.

"Yeah… it worked; they left me alone for the rest of the year." Nazz shook her head and sighed. "I didn't know it then, but Jonny was slowly falling for me, and he actually grew up as well. He stopped bringing that old plank to school, and stopped seeing imaginary people. He was normal for once, and he got tougher as he wanted to protect me from other guys – because that was what I originally wanted; I _wanted_ him to be my fake boyfriend and I didn't see that he was falling for real.  
I started accepting dates from guys by the end of the year, because finally I was secure enough to think about love and dates and stuff like that. But I never got to the dates… they all stood me up, one by one, every time; even though _they_ had been the ones to ask _me_ out. I didn't know why, and I gave up. I felt like such a loser.

You know every year, the annual bon fire party on the junkyard when school ends? By the end of our first year both Jonny and I were invited to that party. At first my cheerleader friends didn't want Jonny to come, because he was weird and what not, but I told them that if he isn't coming, then I won't be there either. So I brought him, and he brought that old plank of his. I didn't know why he did that; he had been without it for almost a year; so why did he bring that old piece of wood to a party?

I do regret what I did that night…" Nazz's eyes were tearing up out of shame. "I laughed at him… I wanted to look cool in front of the cheerleading squad; so I laughed at Jonny for bringing the plank. I thought that it was some kind of joke, but I… I shouldn't have.  
He got mad… so he threw it into the fire and ran off. I tried to save it, but it was too late. The fire was too hot, and the last thing I saw before the wood burned up; was that he had carved my name into it. He had carved my name into Plank, and wanted to show it to me, and I laughed right in his face."

Kevin sighed too. "So that's why… he got all… weirder? Shaved his head, got pierced and tattooed that plank on his arm with the text; no regrets?"

"Yes. It's my entire fault."

"But wait… is it… Jonny that you-"

Nazz nodded. "Well… an hour before the bon fire party started I found out that it was _he_ who had told all those guys to stand me up. He had been threatening them to leave me alone, or else he would kill them. They thought that he was crazy enough to mean every word of it, and that I wasn't worth it if he really did. So, of course, I got mad at him, and that's why I was so mean to him. I hated him for what he had done… but when I saw my name on that burning plank, and realized that he'd done all that because he loved me… I also realized that I actually loved him too.

And now it's too late. I didn't see him at all that summer; he was gone. I asked his parents, and they had no idea where he was, and I don't think that they even cared, actually… And when he came back to school after the summer break… He'd changed. I changed him, and I can't even stand the person he is today."

"This _is_ messed up." Kevin leaned back in his chair. "Jonny Grove… wow… I would never imagine that _he_ was the one to get Peach Creek's girl next door."

"What are you mumbling about?" Nazz shook her head and crossed her arms over the table. "You're sick. But yeah… I really wish that I didn't fuck up all these years ago; because I haven't been successful at all in forgetting about him."

"You haven't dated at all?"

"No…" Nazz shrugged. "Well, I've been on dates, but never finished them. I haven't found a guy interesting enough since Jonny. You must think I'm mental."

"I think that you've found the one you want to be with." Kevin said, again, truthfully. "Now…" he drank the last of his coke, leaned forward and looked serious. "… we need to fix what you've fucked up. We'll call this Operation Grove."

Nazz giggled. "Stop it! It will never work. Really, Kev, I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Nazz. You love this guy; and I will help you get him back. So let's just-" he slammed the book in front of him shut, got up to fetch another coke in her fridge and sat down again. Then he took the note book from Nazz, opened up an empty page and started scramble down some words. "We need to make up a plan."

They had a fun morning together, planning out how to get Jonny to fall for Nazz again. Nazz didn't think of this as something that would truly work, but at least she was having fun with Kevin, and Kevin dodged the burning question of who _he_ was kissing last night.

…

Kevin couldn't believe the story Nazz had told him. Of course he hadn't suspected anything of this; he'd been busy with his own life that first year, and by the end of it, while that bon fire party was taking place; he was laying on the street with cracked skull… dying. He couldn't even imagine having these normal teenage love problems that time around; and what a relief that would've been to his almost fifteen year old heart and mental health. While Jonny had been threatening Nazz's suitors to death; someone was threatening _Kevin_ to death – and that someone hadn't been just anyone; he had been the one Kevin thought was the love of his life. But he wasn't, and because of Kevin's naive, childish feelings; James Hyde almost killed him.

It was a weird feeling thinking about his first year in High School without falling deeper down into his thoughts like he usually did whenever he was alone. Maybe it was because of Nazz and Edd, maybe he just needed people around him to talk to? He didn't have to talk about his past; all he needed was… friends.

After the jog that night (he waited for the rain to stop, and the sky cleared up by dinner time) Kevin took a long, cool shower and then sat in the living room with his family, watching a family friendly movie that his little brother Calvin wanted to see. Honey, the dog, was in Kevin's lap the whole time, but he wasn't at all interested in watching the movie with the rest of them; he was having a very interesting text conversation on his cellphone with the boy living in the white house across the street.

"Who are you texting, Kev?" his mother asked him. She and Kevin's father sat on the couch next to the armchair where Kevin was. "I can see you smiling. Is it Nazz?"

"Uh, no. It's someone from the team. He's just telling me about his weekend."

His cell vibrated, and the answer to Kevin's playful " _What are you wearing? ;)_ " popped up on the screen:

 _Double Dork_  
That is none of your business!

Kevin chuckled; he just knew that Edd was blushing like crazy over at his own house, but he sent another text right after the first:

 _Double Dork_  
But if you really need to know; I'm wearing more clothes than what you are expecting me to say that I wear, but let's say that I'm wearing your number 12 football jersey over nothing. That's actually something I've wanted to do for a long time.

"Whoa…" Kevin whispered and sat up straight. "Uh, I'm just gonna make a quick call. My buddy is having girl problems. Be right back."

"Hurry. It's family night." Said his father as he ran into his downstairs bedroom and shut the door after him.

Kevin's fingers furiously flew over the keyboard on his phone long before he reached the bed. He jumped while holding his cell with both hands, turned midair and landed on his back on the cheats.

 _Me_  
I can come over with my whole gear tonight, and then you can host a fashion show for me.

He sent the text and bit his lip. This conversation was going better than he first thought; he never knew that Edd would say something like that… huh… maybe he wasn't a prude after all. A real devil in disguise. His phone vibrated.

 _Double Dork_  
I promise that that will happen soon enough, but not tonight. I really need to study :( I have missed a lot in school as it is.

Kevin smiled and sighed. He knew that it was too good to be true, at least for tonight.

 _Me_  
It's alright, nerd. Do your homework. But I will not let you forget that you've made this promise. And to make up to me; you'll let _me_ decide which piece of gear you'll wear, and with _which_ piece, I mean that it will only be _one_ piece of the gear at a time. Like… only the helmet… and nothing else.

Kevin smiled widely. Maybe Edd wasn't a prude; but he just couldn't come up with a comeback good enough to shut Kevin up after the last text – Eddward Vincent was too innocent. He looked at the phone once it vibrated again, and had to swallow his own words.

 _Double Dork_  
I can do that, but then you have to promise _me_ to wait for the rest of the team to leave before you take a shower after football practice tomorrow. I don't want _them_ to see me in your helmet – that's for your eyes only.  
I watched you as you came home from the jog a few hours ago, and I will fall asleep tonight, imagining that you haven't showered yet.  
See you in the locker room tomorrow night, Greyhound ;)

His heart pumped his blood through his veins faster than it had ever pumped before, and it focused the most on one specific area. He swallowed the big nervous lump that was building in his throat, and felt drops of sweat running down his back and forehead. Was Eddward actually implying that he wanted to… do stuff… with the football team's captain in the locker room tomorrow? And here he thought that _he_ was going to be the one to take the first step hinting towards something like this; but Edd had beaten him to it – and it was much, much sooner than expected.

His fingers were shaking, and he had to wipe them off on his pants before he could type his reply and send it, and was too nervous to deliver some sort of comeback – the nerd had already won this game Kevin had originally started.

 _Me_  
I'll be there.

 _Double Dork_  
Woof!  
Good night, Kevin. Sleep tight.

"Oh… it's tight, alright." Kevin groaned and corrected his underwear.

That night he slept deeper than what he'd done in years; and he had a lot of intense dreams about the boy with blue eyes and a gap between his front teeth.


	12. Support

**SvartaAnkan** : yeah! I figured that once you start kissing a person you just let go of everything and just let everything happen, let all your hormones loose as to say! At least in your teens, and especially if you're a teenage boy x) well, I don't know since I'm not a boy myself, but I do remember my teen days! And yes! I am so shipping Nazz and Jonny now D':  
 **Agoodreader** : Please keep up the curiousity of Kevin's past! It needs all the attention it can get though there's not a lot of information about it yet! :) I'm the only one that knows everything at the moment ;) And no; Edd has not been drinking x)  
 **Guest** : De nada xD  
 **Riss-in-Wonderland** : heeeeere's mooore :D

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Thank you all for the comments and following and favoriting this story! :)

Would you spare a minute to read this?  
I have a lot to do this summer; before it ends I have a few papers to write for school during the summer break, AND I'm participating in Webtoons' comic contest! I want to try and finish my comic book/graphic novel before this September, AND I'm giving birth to my first child by the end of August/early September, so at the same time I'm preparing for that x) By this I mean that I don't know if I'm going to have much time to spare for this fanfiction. Of course I will try, and I love writing it (I'm actually thinking about Kevin, Edd, Nazz and everybody else every night, trying to write the fiction in my mind...) so I still love doing this! Only; I have no idea when I will have time to actually write and upload.  
I hope that you all understand! And if you are a little bit interested in my comic:

search **Limberj** over at _webtoons . com_. The name of my comic is **The Apex King**! Or google _The apex king webtoon_ and it'll be the first result!

Please subscribe to it, like and rate it! I really need all the support I can get ^^ And share it! Tell your friends :) (If you like it of course! Otherwise, keep an eye open for this story instead and follow my tumblr for art of this fanfiction, and other stuff!):  
search **jeelindberg**

Thank you all so much for reading and supporting me! I'm doing this because of all of you guys!

* * *

 **Support**

 **Eddward**  
The art of being able to keep a straight face is something that takes time to conquer; but for Double D, keeping a straight face in _this_ particular situation wasn't necessary. Example; if you send texts via cellphone you don't _have_ to pretend at all really, just send a text and giggle away – Kevin couldn't see him anyway. After that last text, though, Edd bit his lip and dug himself down into his pillows with his back. He wasn't sure if he really meant what he said about meeting the jock in the locker room after school the next day and put his helmet on his head, but what he knew for sure was that he wanted to see Kevin's reaction from the suggestion – and every text back had been positive this far. He was going to make sure to meet him in the locker room, of course – he wasn't going to straight up prank the poor guy… he was going to meet Kevin there and just sort of… wing it… see what happens.

His stomach was acting up more than it usually did; he felt nervous and excited at the same time, and couldn't stop smiling. He wished he had snapped a few photos of the jock with his phone already, just to have something to look at before going to sleep; but their relationship hadn't come to that yet – taking selfies together like a loving couple was something for the future. But, oh, had he fallen for him… hard.

He remembered the school yearbook from last year, and quickly pulled it out from under his bed. Yes, he kept the yearbook under his bed; he had been browsing through the pages a lot more than what he would like to admit… and he had also folded one corner of every page where Kevin was mentioned or where there was any photo of him.

There was one particular photo of Kevin that Edd loved a bit more than the others; the one where Kevin's helmet fell off during a game last year against Lemon Brooks high, and he threw himself backwards to catch the ball inside the touchdown area. Even though it was in black and white, the photographer (Becky, the girl from his yoga class and the Horror movie club, also the head administrator of the school newspaper and yearbook) did a great job of catching just the right moment, freezing Kevin's angelic face so perfect forever in a photo.

He looked so focused on the ball, but at the same time glanced a few inches next to it to look straight into the eyes of the other team's captain outside of camera's reach; as if he said "Watch me win this game". That was also the caption above the photo.

Of course the other team wanted to lodge an appeal against that winning score because of the rules. The rules are clear – no helmet, dead ball; no score. But after a lot of ifs and buts; the referee decided that the score counted, since the helmet fell completely off _during_ the throw, and not before – and Peach Creek High School won the game.

The confidence in Kevin's eyes… the smoldering sexiness steaming out of every pore in his skin… What was Kevin Barr doing to him? Edd had never been like this before!

He sighed, trembled. He still couldn't believe that that piece of hunk could be his in a few hours if he just wanted to. But at the same time he didn't want their relationship to escalate too quickly; he didn't want this to just be about sex, not after the perfect and deeply personal night they had spent with one another yesterday. Edd had shared his biggest secret with the jock, and Kevin had shared something with him as well, and Edd really wanted to know what had happened to Kevin's chest and back – why and how he had gotten all those scars. They looked old, at least a few years, so it wasn't anything he was still doing to himself… or something someone else had done to him.

He had been thinking about Kevin's scars a lot today, and was almost completely convinced they had something to do with Cheetah during Kevin's first year in Peach Creek High school. But he didn't want to meddle in that just yet – he wanted Kevin to tell him himself when he was ready, and Edd was going to wait patiently and be there for him the day he decides to declare his secret… if that ever happens, that is. But he would be fine with that as well; if Kevin wanted to keep his own secret to himself, then that was something that was up to him and him only.

…

Once Edd was finished making himself ready the next morning, a car horn honked outside his house – Eddy was ready to go. He picked up his backpack from the floor next to the stairs, exited the house and locked the door. As always nowadays; Nazz was already sitting in the passenger seat, and Ed opened the door from the inside to the backseat (since the door on the left side was the only door which didn't have a handle on the outside).

"Good morning!" Edd said, and hopped into the green rusty Volvo Eddy was driving, and buckled up.

Eddy bought it from his big brother a week prior, and even though Edd felt skeptic about it, it was running like a charm. Also; he helped Eddy clean it thoroughly inwards as it arrived to the cul-de-sac last Sunday night, and checked the engine… it still had the sweet smell of something questionable inside though.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" Nazz sang from the passenger seat as Eddy drove off towards school. She turned around to look at Edd. "How was your weekend?"

Edd told her about the Horror movie club meeting and that he had been studying the rest of the weekend to catch up – he wasn't going to tell them about him and Kevin just yet. "How was yours?" he asked her back.

"Studying as well." She replied. "Last night Kevin came over and helped me with our project that has to be finished before next Monday, but I don't know how we will ever have time for it, though, with the game Saturday night and what not."

Edd glanced at Eddy, who quickly glanced over at Nazz when she mentioned Kevin's name. He really wanted to tell him that he had nothing to worry about, but he didn't know how to do that with a car full of people. And even though he knew that _he_ had nothing to worry about either, he felt the smallest sting of jealousy in his guts. Edd and Kevin had only gone out on _one_ date (or two or three, if you count all the activities that day as separate dates), so Kevin had no responsibility at all in telling Edd where he is all the time or which people he is seeing while apart from each other.

He couldn't stop himself from reaching down his pocket and picking up his phone to read the text conversation he and Kevin had last night, just as an assurance that Kevin wanted to be with _him_ , and no one else. And he was lucky that Nazz had started asking Ed about May since he forgot all about the conversation he had with her in the car.

He smiled at the messages, and his stomach began feeling like a nest of butterflies again as he was reminded of what he and Kevin (maybe) was going to do after school. At least he was going to have a little alone time with the jock; it didn't mean that they were actually going to _do it_ for the first time in the locker room.

First time.

Yes, _if_ something happened in the locker room tonight, then it _was_ going to be the first time for Eddward. He had never had these thoughts and fantasies about someone else before, even though he'd kind of always known that he was gay and that he had romantic feelings for Kevin. Somehow, it was like Kevin had activated something in Edd's brain that night he climbed into his room and sat next to him on his bed; like Kevin's scent and raw closeness was the key to Edd's adulthood. It was like there was another person inside of Edd that he couldn't control, a person that wanted to be close to Kevin, to let him do whatever he wanted to him…

Edd snapped himself out of his thoughts. He felt the blush starting to warm up his face and neck but he tried his best not to show it to Ed who was literally one seat over from him in this tiny old car. He needed to take control of himself before the urge was greater than reason. Alright! This was the last time he was going to think of Kevin Barr like that for at least a few hours. And of course…

Eddy, Nazz and Ed stopped talking as they all heard an engine roaring behind them and slowly got closer to them.

"He'll kill himself on that thing one day." Nazz sighed as she looked through the mirrors.

Both Ed and Eddward turned around in their seats to look through the rear window, and there he was – Kevin Barr on his motorcycle. He looked like one of those bad boys you only see in movies on that monster; his helmet with dark tinted face shield; with his black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, showing his black leather bracelets; and black skinny jeans. He turned the throttle on the handle to rev the engine a few times before speeding up and drove up next to the car on the other lane.

"Fucking idiot." Eddy mumbled as he checked every mirror and ahead the road to look for other cars. "He'll kill us all."

Edd just stared out the window and quietly watched Kevin who glanced back at Edd in the car. The morning sun reflected in the face shield, and blinded Edd a little as he tried to see Kevin's face through the tint. Kevin did a salute, sped up again and drove off faster than what the speed limit allowed on that road. His heart banged inside his body and he felt nervous again. Though that was a very dangerous move; driving in that kind of speed; Edd was flattered that Kevin did that only for him, and not for anyone else in the car.

…

As they rolled into the school's parking lot Kevin already stood there, waiting for them next to the bike. "Mornin'!" he greeted them and opened Eddy's door. "I didn't know you had a car."

Eddy turned off the engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Yeah, I bought it from my brother last week." He didn't want to look at Kevin as he stood up, but Kevin didn't budge.

"Is there any problems with it?"

Kevin kept asking Eddy about the car and the engine, the oil and gas, and Eddy tried his best to answer everything. He still wasn't used to Kevin being so nice to him, but after the talk Edd had had with him last night before walking home and try to do some schoolwork, he actually seemed to try to be nice back.

"Okay, Sampson. But if anything happens to it, I'll help you repair the old bastard, free of charge, okay? Only one condition, though; that you _watch_ me repair it so that you can fix it yourself in the future. Deal?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Barr. I'll have that in mind." Eddy mumbled.

"That is so nice of you, Kev!" Nazz boxed his shoulder playfully. "Dude, we need to study this lunch break."

"Sure. But do you remember the homework for today?" Nazz and Kevin started to walk towards school. Ed, Edd and Eddy followed them.

"Aw, man, please don't bring that up…" she sighed.

"Come on! I know you can do it. You _must_ do it today. Promise me that."

"Maybe…"

Edd had no idea what they were talking about, or why Kevin was so eager to not let her skip this homework. But he shrugged; they were last year students so it would only be natural that they wanted to do their utmost before the summer break.

Kevin suddenly stopped talking in front of them and slowed down. They all looked up and spotted the big black jeep from Nazz's party. It was him again; Cheetah. The big car stood parked right in front of the school's entry, but the engine was still running as the backseat door opened. May climbed down and shut the door.

"Come on, Kev…" said Nazz. She took his hand and led him away from the main entrance towards the football field; the building had more doors than this one.

The Eds followed them, and when May noticed them she caught up to the group. But Kevin didn't look away from the jeep; Cheetah had noticed him as well and they both just looked at each other from a distance. Cheetah smiled, and discreetly waved at Kevin, and then he drove off from school's property.

Kevin looked around at the people in his little group that had formed some kind of shield around him; to show him that they were on his side. He locked eyes with Edd for a moment, he walked right next to him on the left as Nazz walked on Kevin's right, and it was like he felt ashamed for falling silent all of a sudden. Edd wanted to assure him that he got his back and that he didn't have to be ashamed of his past, but he knew that he couldn't say things like that around all these people. He tried a smile instead, and Kevin gave him a stiff smile back.

Kevin sighed. "Let's not say anything, okay?" he told everyone, and Nazz immediately asked May about her weekend like she had done in the car earlier.

Edd glanced at her, and saw that she was still holding on to Kevin's right hand. He would do anything to take her place. Why isn't _he_ holding Kevin's hand? Why can't _he_ be the one comforting Kevin after this? But he swallowed his jealousy; maybe Kevin had already told Nazz about Cheetah and everything that happened his first year and why he had all those scars, and now she knew everything about him and knew exactly what he needed to start to heal again. Why would Edd want to put a stop to that? If that was the case; then it was just perfect! It was great that Kevin had a _good_ friend like her. Right? Of course it was!

At least this, if anything, made Eddward stop thinking about Kevin Barr in any other way than that he wanted to be a support for him. He forgot everything about the locker room and their text messages last night… at least for a while.

 **Kevin**  
Kevin now knew that he would never be able to get rid of the ghosts of his past. Though he knew that May's sister Marie was currently dating James; hence he giving her a ride to school this morning; he also realized that James Hyde… on some level… was stalking Kevin. He tried to shake those really scary thoughts, but he just couldn't. He knew what kind of material that psychopath was made of, and he knew that he could run, but he couldn't hide.

Nazz was right by his side the entire morning, and somehow even his team mates didn't seem to want to bother him. He really appreciated that she was considerate of his feelings as she didn't talk about what happened when they arrived to school earlier, but her constant avoidance of talking at all was starting to get on his nerves.

"So…" he started as they walked in the corridor between classes. "Have you seen him in school today?" Nazz gave him a confused look. "You know I'm talking about your Lover-boy." He mumbled.

"Oh! No… Or… yes, actually… He usually doesn't show up on Mondays, but I think that I saw his car on the parking lot."

Kevin couldn't avoid noticing her cheeks getting darker, and smiled as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Well, look at you all smitten."

"No, I'm not…" Nazz mumbled, but she started smiling as well, kept the pace through the corridor. Her face changed, eyebrows dropped. "And you need to stop that, okay? I will never _confess_ anything to that guy; it doesn't work like that. So you should just wipe that smug smirk off your face."

"I won't let you leave today before you've said at least _something_ to him." Kevin scoffed.

"He doesn't even care! I could bet everything I own that he would just stare at me, and then laugh if I told him I have…" she lowered her voice. "… feelings for him. I just know that."

"Prove it." Kevin smirked.

He looked straight forward, and as an angel sent from above a tall and lanky punk rocker came walking towards them. It was Jonny Grove; with a pink and blue half-Mohawk, a shabby white wife-beater on his skinny upper body, and black ripped jeans on his bottom. His Steve Marten steel cap boots sounded like a whole army on the stone floor, and his piercings dangled from his ears and eyebrow. He had a tattoo on his right arm; that plank he was always carrying around as a pre-teen with the text 'no regrets' underneath it.

He didn't look up as he got closer to Kevin and Nazz, and Kevin said: "Hey, Dragon." With a wide, jeering smile; he remembered the name Jonny had been shouting out in the corridor after him two weeks prior. But Jonny didn't seem to react at all. "Dragon!" Kevin said louder.

"Shut the fuck up!" Nazz squealed behind him.

"Yo, Grove, I'm talking to you!"

Jonny finally looked up, and slowed down, but he didn't stop at first as he didn't seem to trust his own eyes. "Did you say something?" he asked Kevin, and he didn't sound at all like he _wanted_ to have this conversation.

"Yeah, I did." Said Kevin. Nazz whimpered and growled at the same time as she pressed her back against Kevin's, hiding from Jonny.

"All these peasants' cheering voices drowning the voice of the great king, am I right, Barr?" he said mockingly.

"That's sweet…" Kevin bit his tongue, trying to hold back insults that could ruin this totally romantic moment. "Hey, Dragon- can I call you Dragon? That's an extremely cool name you've got there…" was the mildest insult he couldn't keep to himself.

"Yeah… sure…" Jonny chuckled, looking like he had no idea what Kevin was doing. But as Kevin inhaled to say something, Jonny tilted his head a little to the side. "If that is not a cheerleader growing out from your back, I'd think that you have a truly serious outgrowth situation…"

Nazz sighed. She came out from her hiding place with grinding teeth. "Jonny." She said through clenched jaws.

"Cheerleader." Jonny crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, well, well… Isn't this just the perfect picture?" he put his fingers together as a frame, pretending to take a picture of her and Kevin. "I just wish I had my camera with me. The two most popular jocks on Peach Creek high – isn't that just…" Jonny seemed to struggle for the right word.

"Perfect?" Kevin asked.

"… expected?" Jonny shrugged with a goofy smile.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry to ruin your dreams for you – I mean, It's _really_ sad that you've actually been lying in bed for so many nights and fantasizing about me and Nazz, but whatever tickles your pickle, I guess – but we're not dating." Said Kevin. He glanced at Nazz who looked like she was considering to just stop breathing.

Jonny frowned. "What do you want?" he looked at Nazz. "What is this shit? You wanna ask me to prom or something? You wanna go see that asshole play next Saturday?" he nodded towards Kevin.

"What? No!" Nazz growled and crossed her arms. She gave Kevin a really evil glare.

"Yes? Sure, I'll pick you up before the game Saturday." He started walking away from them, laughing, and turned around to face them while walking backwards. "Oh! And we could also go that bon fire party together! That's perfect, Nathalie. See ya, sweetie!" he turned around one last time and walked down the corridor, still laughing, and with his boots echoing on the stone floor.

"See?" Nazz said angrily and slapped Kevin on his arm. "He's so immature! What a douchebag! I would never even _consider_ going out with him!" she started stomping towards their class again as the school bell rang above their heads.

Kevin caught up to her. "Yeah… I just thought that he was some kind of wimpy wannabe punk rocker; I never knew that he was behaving like… like…"

"A five year old, right?" Nazz growled, clearly upset. "You're lucky he didn't take anything seriously! What the fuck, dude?" she pushed him and he stopped.

"Hey!"

"How could you just throw me to the wolves like that? Do you have any idea how much this would've messed me up if you told him that I'm in love with him, and he would laugh in my face like that _for real_? Shit, I feel humiliated now even though you _didn't_ tell him!"

"Come on, I wasn't going to tell him about you! I just wanted to mess with him- or, I mean… I wanted to see what he's all about."

"You need to use your brain, Kevin Barr!" Nazz followed the stream of students into the class room, and Kevin walked in last, head low and ashamed like a dog.

Kevin had a lot to think about during that class; Nazz didn't talk to him, so he had only his own thoughts as company. He did regret meddling in Nazz's and Jonny's relationship – what if he had ruined everything? He wanted to lift Nazz up; make her look like some kind of fairy tale fantasy creature to him – a princess! And Jonny could be the dragon guarding the tower-

Okay, scratch that.

More realistically… what do guys Kevin's and Jonny's age like? Well… Kevin could only talk for himself thinking that Eddward Vincent was the school's hottest guy for the moment… but… and… Jonny… Nah, it's too late to think of anything to make Nazz look hot for Jonny, right now; Kevin had started to gaze beyond the distance, fantasizing about Double D again.

He read his text messages on his cell under the table, feeling his entire body heating up more and more the deeper into the conversation he got.

 _Double dork_  
I can do that, but then you have to promise _me_ to wait for the rest of the team to leave before you take a shower after football practice tomorrow. I don't want _them_ to see me in your helmet – that's for your eyes only.  
I watched you as you came home from the jog a few hours ago, and I will fall asleep tonight, imagining that you haven't showered yet.  
See you in the locker room tomorrow night, Greyhound ;)

He read that specific text over and over, not thinking about anything else in the world, until…

"Holy shit!" Nazz wheezed next to him.

Kevin tried to quickly put his phone down his pocket again, but he dropped it and it made a loud bang as it landed on the floor underneath him. But as if that wasn't enough; Kevin accidentally kicked it and it continued sliding between everyone's feet in a raging speed to the front of the classroom where it slammed against the wall behind the teacher's desk.

"That was very handy. Thank you, Kevin." Mr. Thatcher; who already stood by the blackboard; took three steps to the right, bent down, picked Kevin's cellphone up and put it in one of the drawers under his desk. "That's detention. And you can have your phone back by the end of the school day."

"Detention? No! I have practice-"

"I will let coach Dawson know." Mr. Thatcher assured him with the most smug face Kevin had ever seen a person use.

Nazz put a hand on Kevin's shoulder before he stood up. "Mr. Thatcher, please. I saw what happened; his phone just fell out of his pocket. He didn't-"

"That's enough of you two. Do you want detention as well, Nathalie?" Mr. Thatcher waited for her to reply, and she shook her head. "Good. Back to class, then." He turned around to write on the blackboard again.

…

"I'm sorry!" Nazz apologized all the way to the cafeteria.

"I'm gonna talk to coach." Kevin mumbled.

"I'll go with you."

"No, you stay here." Kevin gave her one of his famous stare downs, and didn't turn around until she looked down on the floor.

But as soon as he had broken eye contact with her, it was like she'd forgotten about his stare. "Please, I need to talk to you."

"I will kill you, Nathalie, I swear to god…"

"Don't you first name me!"

"Hey, you last named me before Mr. Thatcher's class. Have we forgotten all about that now?"

"Yes! I forgive you for what you did. And you can do it again, please, let me just ask-"

"No."

"But that text! Did it really say what I think it said-"

"Shut it!" Kevin growled, fastened his steps towards the indoor sports center.

"And the name! Did I read it right? Was that text really from Double-"

"I will break you in half!"

"I'll stop…"

Kevin realized that he was pinning Nazz against the wall, holding her up in the front of her shirt like he had done many times before with other students… only this time it was the first time with a girl. He put her down again, turned around and kept walking. He didn't care to apologize this time – he didn't hurt her – but he hoped that he had scared her enough to not bother him anymore.

And he was wrong as always; Nazz knew that he wasn't going to hurt her. "I'm not gonna ask you about it." She said, carelessly catching up to him again. "But I will help you with your detention."

"Thanks." Kevin murmured.

She took Kevin's hand. He glanced at her as if she was insane, but she only smiled back at him. "I love you, Kev. And I will always think that you're the coolest person alive, no matter who you're dating."

"Shut up."

"Okay." She squeezed his hand tighter as he tried to let go of her, but he gave up and sighed.

…

Coach Dawson just laughed Kevin's detention off as if Mr. Thatcher had gone insane, and promised Kevin that he was going to clear everything up before lunch break was over. And right afterwards Kevin and Nazz went to the cafeteria to eat. Nazz kept her word to not talk about what she had read on his cellphone, and she was never more than five feet away from him.

"What's wrong with you?" Kevin asked her after she'd bumped into him for the fourth time in the food line. He looked at her, and for the first time he noticed that she was actually looking for someone; and he knew exactly who that was. "Nazz… I'm serious, if you care enough about me then you just stay out of this until I say it's fine."

Nazz sighed. "I'm sorry, Kev, I just... I didn't notice anything strange this morning, and I feel that I should've. I wanna see if he… I know this sounds mad, but I wanna see if he looks different. I mean; I've never imagined him to be g-"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Kevin growled through his teeth, crouching down to her level. "What is so hard to understand?"

"Alright, alright, I'll stop." She put her hands in the air in front of her. "I'm just saying; there's nothing to be ashamed-"

Kevin took his tray and slammed it on the buffet plank where you drag the trays as you take food; the glass, plate and cutlery rattled loudly. He just couldn't believe this girl; did she never _shut up_? "I can't threaten you with violence so this is your last chance, Nathalie; either you drop this, or I won't be your friend anymore. Got it?"

"This was the last you heard of that. I'm sorry, Kev. Really. Let's talk about that killer machine you drove to school instead."

Kevin rolled his eyes; she was still being annoying, but at least that was something he could talk about.


	13. Give me a break!

Ooooooomg. Now it was a really long time ago I uploaded here but holy moly I do hope that this chapter will make that up for you!

Reviews:  
 **Shelly** : Thank you! I love it too ^^  
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WELCOME AND THANK YOU ALL

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Thank you for your patience! And as I said on my tumblr: I gave birth to my first child three weeks ago, so that's why I have been busy with other stuff!

Parts of this chapter sounds... weird... I was tired writing some of it, and am kind of tired now as well so I don't know how to fix it, but I know it sounds weird haha. Just so you know, I hope that you'll understand either way :)

Ooh, and next chapter will be Eddy's POV! Stay tuned for that.

* * *

 **Give me a break!**

 **Eddward**  
Edd walked in front of his friends, Ed and Eddy, in the corridor on their way to the cafeteria for lunch. He was reading his notes from the class he had just been in, and Ed and Eddy talked about other stuff behind him, minding their own.

"Hey, hun." Double D noted that May joined them, and she kissed Ed loudly as if she had been missing him all morning.

As they entered the cafeteria all their heads turned to the sound of a girl calling their names.

"Hey, Ed-guys! May! Over here!" Nazz waved her hand in the air, showing the empty chairs around the table she and Kevin were sitting at.

They all waved back and gathered their plates and trays. Eddward loosened one of the straps of his backpack and let it slid down so that he could put his notes into it. He then stuck his arm through the strap again and put the backpack onto his back. He did this very slowly because he didn't want to show his blushing excitement to finally sit and eat with Kevin Barr in the school cafeteria. It felt surreal.

When it was finally his turn to take food he discreetly glanced to his right to get a glimpse of the jock. Kevin leaned towards Nazz with his hand in front of his mouth, it looked like he was telling her something, and he didn't look too happy about it. Edd didn't want to jump to any conclusions, so he brushed it off as it was none of his business, and then followed his friends to Nazz's and Kevin's table.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Nazz greeted them.

"Heeey…" Kevin said with an unsure smile. He tried not to look at any of them and ended up staring at Ed's tray as he put it down on the table next to Kevin's.

He was so shy, and Eddward started to feel sorry for him. But at least this was good training for the lone wolf; he needed to be surrounded by some nice people for a change.

They began eating from their plates while talking about school and other things that interested them. And as they finished eating and walked through the cafeteria to put their dirty dishes on the plate racks Nazz caught up to Edd and slowed his pace a little.

"I've heard a rumor about you." She simply said.

"What kind of rumor?" Edd asked; what on earth would people be whispering about him behind his back?

"That you're taking serious psychology classes and give students therapy sessions in school."

"Oh, that. Well, I wouldn't call them _sessions_ , really, but some girls do come to me for advice about their studies, friends and love lives. I wouldn't call myself a _therapist_. And I tell all of them that I can't help them deal with real problems; I can only give them advice as a friend."

"Can you give _me_ some advice?"

"S-sure. But only as a _friend_. You shouldn't take what I say seriously since I'm only a student, and not licensed or anything."

"Noted."

Edd perched his lips. Nazz wasn't going to give up, and a few friendly advices couldn't hurt, could it? "Wanna go somewhere private?"

They had reached the plate racks now and put their dishes down, then kept following the crowd out of the cafeteria. Edd noticed that Kevin was trying to keep close to them at all times and eavesdropped on them, as if he was afraid that Nazz was going to say too much about something.

"No it'll be quick!" said Nazz with a smile. "See, I like a guy but I don't know how to get him to notice me. But that's not all; at the same time he is too childish for me but I don't wanna change him, but I _do_ want to be with him. So… what do you think I should do?"

"Uhm…" Edd straightened his back and looked forward. "First things first; I like the way you're describing him as too childish, but at the same time you don't want to change him. That is very aware of you. Is there a chance that maybe he isn't that childish once you get to know him better? That you will oversee his flaws once he's noticed you?"

"Maybe…" said Nazz. They stopped outside the cafeteria and leaned against a wall. Ed, Eddy and May looked like they were thinking of something else, but Eddward knew that they were hanging onto the conversation like it was the juiciest topic of the year, though they were much more discreet than Kevin who was still following Nazz like a little dog. "Okay, so, what should I do? I'm ready to give him a chance."

"Well... You should do exactly what I tell every girl that comes to me for advice; just tell him."

Nazz's eyes sparkled. "How?"

"Tell him what you feel, and then ask him if he _someday_ would be _interested_ in going out with you. If he says no, then there you have it; you can drop him and wait for a better suitor. And if he says yes, then cool; you don't have to make any plans right there and then, you can simply say that you'll be back with a date someday. Take his number. But don't take too long to contact him again. You can start with sending him a text the same night."

"And say what?"

"Just say… something like; hey, about that date. Is Friday good for you? Or, something like that. Be honest, and be spontaneous. Guys like when girls make the first move too."

"They do?"

"Of course! And if he _doesn't_ like that you make the first move, then he's not good enough for you."

"Wow… thank you, Double D." Nazz gave him a quick hug, let go of him and turned to Kevin. Edd's heart dropped for a second as he thought that she was going to tell _him_ what she had just learned, but was relieved as Kevin asked:

"Are you going to tell him today?"

"I don't know…" Nazz mumbled. "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow. I need to… prepare myself."

"I'll stand around the corner if he gets nasty."

"Thank you." She turned back to Edd. "And again, thank _you_. I already knew that I had to tell him… but you actually gave me a little boost of courage."

"What are friends for?" Edd smiled, and when he looked at Kevin he saw that Kevin was also smiling, and when they locked eyes they both blushed a little.

"You should become a counselor of some sort. I didn't know that you were this good at… psychology, and stuff." Kevin gave Edd a crooked smile and playfully boxed him on his arm.

This was, kind of, the first time he touched Edd around other people. Goosebumps started spreading from the spot where Kevin's fist had landed, throughout his body.

"I'm actually considering applying to a psychology college after high school."

"You are? Shit, you should." Said Kevin. "That's awesome."

"Alright, let's get out of here." Said Eddy and dragged Edd towards the class rooms at the end of the corridor as the school bell rang. "We're going to be late for English class."

"O-okay. See you… later…" Edd mumbled to Kevin and Nazz. "Eddy, what's your problem?" he asked Eddy and stopped outside the class room.

"Nothing. You were stalling, and I don't want to be late for Victoria's class."

"Ms. Rowel." He corrected him. "You're acting strange, Eddy, and I want you to tell me what it is." Edd looked back at Kevin and Nazz, who were walking down the corridor the other way as they were seniors and had a different class than the Eds, and Ed stayed behind with May to say good bye to her as she was a last year student as well. Then he sighed and looked back at Eddy. "I'm sorry, Eddy, I wasn't thinking straight."

"Yeah, well. Now you get it." Eddy mumbled. Of course he had gotten upset over the discussion a minute ago; he had a crush on Nazz who appeared to have a crush on someone else. "Let's just forget about it, okay?"

"For what it's worth; I'm deeply sorry for this. And you will find someone one day. I promise."

"Yeah, sure…"

"We can grab some snacks from the local store after school and play video games in my dad's basement tonight. I bet Ed is going to hang out with May, so it'll be just you and me. Maybe you can pick me up after my yoga class?" Well, this was starting to become a problem… but he didn't have time to solve it before Eddy snubbed:

"Yeah, right. You, and me, and Shovelshin."

"Shovel… Why-why are you saying that?" a chill ran down Edd's spine.

"I'm not stupid; I see the two of you. Always looking at each other, laughing, walking home together… It's making me sick." Eddy said angrily.

Edd prepared to defend himself. "What exactly is making you sick?"

"It feels like- it- oh, to hell with this! Fuck!" Eddy turned around and kicked one of the lockers. "Don't you see it? How can you be so fucking blind?"

"See what, Eddy?!"

"That Kevin is trying to steal you from me! I mean…" Eddy bit his lip and clenched his fists as to try and strain himself from kicking and punching the lockers. "I know that you are your own person, and Ed is too, but fucking look at him!"

They both looked back at Ed who had a very sweet and gentle love exchange with his new girlfriend. They were softly kissing each other as if they were the only two people in this corridor; they didn't even look back while Eddy was ranting, although quietly, about them. Edd had no idea why this bothered Eddy so much.

"I thought that you were happy for him?"

"Yes, I am… I am…" Eddy groaned. "But we are not _us_ anymore. When was the last time we all hung out; just the three of us? It was before Nazz's party." He took a deep breath. Edd was impressed by him not escalating more than this. "First Ed… and now you. Maybe Ed and May will break up someday, and that'll be fine. But you and Kevin… You're becoming closer and closer to each other and soon you and him will be best friends and I will be left alone; the odd one out. Hell, it wouldn't even surprise me if he and Nazz… he just steals people that…"

"Eddy…" Double D sighed again. "Ed is still our friend; he just needs to figure this out by himself. We can't stop him from seeing May and… this is still new for him, we need to let him be. But he _will_ come back one day. He will find a way to balance his relationship with her, and his friendship with us. And Kevin is _not_ going to steal me away from you. You will always be my best friend, it'll always be you, and me, and Ed… okay?"

Eddy took a shaky breath; it was a long time ago Edd had seen him like this… this was the very soft and unsure side of Eddy that he hardly showed anyone except to Eddward. "Okay."

"Come on." Edd put his arm around his friend's shoulders and they walked into the class room together as Ed caught up to them.

…

School bell rang, Eddy waited for Nazz by the lockers while she made herself ready to go home in his car, and Eddward followed Ed to the locker room as they had to stay; Ed had his football practice in half an hour and Eddward had his Yoga class in fifteen minutes. He stood around the corner; waiting for the football team to leave the locker room before he could use it to change into his yoga clothes. But they usually never took too long; the jocks were always very excited to have their practices.

Edd saw them leave the locker room in pairs, but as he tried to keep count on them he also tried to hide a little behind the lockers. As he stood there, hiding from the footballers and trying to count their footsteps, he felt a hand on his shoulder and swung around as a chill ran through his body like lightning.

"Did I scare you?" Kevin asked. Somehow he knew that Edd stood there, and walked around the corridors to sneak up on him from behind. He had already changed into his football gear, and carefully dropped the helmet on the floor. Edd's stomach tingled from the sight of the jock's bare ginger head as he was used to always seeing Kevin with his red baseball cap on – this was a much better look for him.

"Yes, you actually did!" Eddward couldn't stay mad at him; he was in fact very happy to see Kevin right now. "I've been thinking about you… a lot."

"Yeah?" Kevin grabbed Edd's shoulders and made him slowly back up against the lockers, still out of sight from the locker room. He let go of Edd, but put his hands on the lockers next to him instead, caging Eddward in between his big arms. "Nice thoughts, I hope?"

"Of course…" Edd swallowed. He felt Kevin's minty fresh breath and noticed that he was chewing a gum.

"Wanna tell me what you've been thinking about me?" Kevin leaned forward, began touching Edd's neck with his lips light as feathers… his warm breath caressing his skin.

Edd let out an involuntary, low moan. "You're making it hard for me to talk…" he whimpered.

Kevin pressed himself against Edd, pinning him to the lockers; he couldn't get away if he wanted to. "You're making it hard for me to wait until after practice. I don't know if I can."

They stood there for a good ten seconds, forehead to forehead, and breathed as if they both had been running a marathon. Edd finally came to his senses. "Well, I can." He said quietly.

"Huh?" Kevin mumbled.

"I can wait until after practice." He chuckled and started to push the Quarter back away, though he was really heavy.

"You're right." Kevin backed away and shot Eddward his widest smile that melted Edd into his core while boyishly chewing his gum with open mouth. _Gosh, he's so hot!_ "We have both things to do."

"Yeah…" Edd smiled back. "Can you maybe check the locker room for me? See if it's empty?"

"Sure thing, babe."

No one had ever called Eddward _babe_ before, but he thought that he could get used to that.

…

Yoga was usually the only thing (except for his favorite green tea) that could calm Eddward's nerves, but despite doing all the more advanced positions and really trying to focus on them; his muscles seemed too soft for some reason and he dropped the position faster than what he was used to.

"Are you okay?" Becky, who always took the matt next to him, whispered.

Edd laid flat on his back and stared into the ceiling. "Yes, thank you for asking." He whispered back but couldn't restrain the bitterness in his voice.

Becky lay down as well. "You have sore muscles or something?"

"Just a little unfocused, that's all."

"Why? Do you have something you need to do?"

Edd thought of the reason why he was unfocused, but he knew that he couldn't tell Becky about it. It was Kevin… he was going to meet Kevin in the locker room in only twenty minutes; he hadn't been this nervous his entire life. But at the same time he had promised Eddy to play video games with him after his class, and Eddy was going to wait for him outside school, ready to pick him and Ed up straight away after Ed's practice.

Why on earth did he mess up like this without thinking of a plan B?

…

Yoga class was over, but he didn't have to hurry for the locker room. The footballers needed to leave before he could get in there and tell Kevin that Eddy was waiting for him outside school. Because of him dragging his feet behind him all the way from the Yoga class room he was just in time to see some of the team members already leaving.

Edd didn't want the night to end like this… he _did_ want to spend some time with Kevin; regardless of whether they were going to… fool around… or not… he just wanted to _be_ with Kevin. Without thinking about it Edd took his cell phone out from his pocket and started texting Eddy, saying that he was going to stay a little longer so he would have to take the bus. And Ed still needed to get home, so he didn't feel too bad about postponing his plans with Eddy.

Eddward watched the last of the team members leave the locker room, swallowed the lump in his throat and walked towards the locker room door with certain steps, but as he reached the door he hesitated with his hand on the handle. Sweat started running down his back, and a voice inside his head asked:

 _What are you so afraid of?_

"N-nothing." He breathed.

 _Why aren't you going in?_

"I don't know…"

 _It's only Kevin, right?_

"Yes."

 _Is he going to kill you?_

"No."

 _Then open the door, already! You can always say no, you know. He'll understand._

Edd nodded. Kevin wasn't going to hurt him, and he did want to spend time with him. Though Kevin had been hinting towards something else right before Yoga class, they could still just talk to each other in there.

He slowly opened the door and peaked into the room. Kevin sat on a bench inside the locker room, doing something on his cell phone, but looked up as the light from the corridor flooded the room. The lights inside were turned off except for the lamps in the shower room.

"Are you alone?" Eddward asked.

"Yeah… come in." Edd felt relieved that Kevin finally sounded as nervous as he did, and entered the locker room. "Hi."

"Hi." He whispered back. Something filled Edd as he saw Kevin on that bench, still with his football gear on but dirtier now as the football field must've been all muddy after the rain, wet hair and dirt on his hands. It was something that reminded him of bravery – this guy in front of him was his if he just snapped with his fingers, and he was waiting for him to do that. "Off with your jersey." Edd demanded.

Kevin did as he said and tossed it over to Eddward with an excited smile on his face. "You want me to close my eyes?"

"Yes." Eddward didn't know what to do, really, but put Kevin's jersey on without taking anything off. He breathed in the raw smell of dirt and sweat, and shivered. He looked at the jock who only had his pads on his shoulders now. His stomach was bare and though it was dark in the room with the lamps in showers as the only light, Edd could see his expanding abs as he nervously breathed in and out. "Okay…" he bit his lip. "Open them."

"Oh, Edd…" Kevin mumbled, licked his lips as if his mouth had dried up. "You look so much better in that than anyone from the team would ever do."

"You don't think it's too big?" Eddward began walking towards Kevin, very, very slowly.

"Not a chance." Said Kevin. "Hey, it's kinda dark over there. Come closer."

Edd decided to be brave for once; he wanted to show Kevin that he wasn't a child anymore; and walked all the way up to the jock and smoothly straddled over his lap with his hands on Kevin's shoulders.

"Holy shit." Kevin breathed, and then held his breath for a second. He put both his hands on Edd's back, and Edd leaned forward towards Kevin's face.

"Just shut up, okay?" he pulled off his ski hat, threw it across the room and started making out with the surprised jock. He kissed him intensely, with tongue and all, and when he felt confident enough he started kissing Kevin's neck.

"Oh, god…" Kevin moaned. It was like he didn't know what to do with his hands, but he clawed Edd's back out of excitement.

Eddward knew exactly what to do next; he kept kissing Kevin's neck, but this time upwards and started nibbling on his ear. He kept breathing in his scent and it drove him absolutely crazy.

Kevin seemed to melt in Edd's grip as he reached his ear, as if he were in ecstasy. His big hands kept massaging Edd's back, and finally he took a deep breath to say something. "Oh, god, Jim…"

Eddward shot up with straight back, straight arms as if he was pushing Kevin away from him, but he was still sitting in his lap. They both stared at each other for a few seconds that felt like an eternity, red faced and with swollen lips. Edd's eyebrows dropped.

"Who the hell is Jim?!"

Kevin just stared back, speechless and with shiny eyes.

The door flung open and the locker room was once again filled with light from the corridor outside, and the couple both turned to the newcomer, wide eyed.

"What… the…" said nobody less than Eddy. He stood in the doorway, one foot inside the locker room as if he was prepared to see just about _anything_ else than what he was witnessing right now. He shook his head, turned around and angrily left the room.

"Eddy!" Edd jumped off of Kevin and ran towards the door, but he stopped as he remembered that he had Kevin's jersey on, and that his backpack stood in one of the lockers. He ran for his backpack and pulled the jersey off on the way, tossed it on the floor; he didn't care about it anymore – all he wanted was to explain everything to Eddy before he did something hasty.

"Eddward… I'm sorry… I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Edd yanked the locker door open, grabbed his backpack and ran across the room. He left Kevin behind him as he ran through the corridor, with tears burning in his eyes.

 **Kevin**  
The door didn't slam loudly as Eddward left the locker room; instead it just bounced back open and let the light from the corridor fill the room like a spotlight pointed directly at Kevin. It felt like everything, hope, air and all, had gone with Edd as he ran out on Kevin; and all that Kevin was left with was guilt… shame… and emptiness. He sat on that bench, still staring out through the door into the bright corridor, still with puffy lips and banging heart. He put his hand on his chest; it was aching, and he had a hard time to breathe.

What had triggered him this time? Just like last time he had had a flashback of his first intimate relationship; when Nazz had been surprising him by sliding down her bed to kiss him; Kevin once again remembered something from the past, this time as Edd was kissing him. Intimacy seemed to trigger his… he didn't even want to think about the letter combination his shrink had diagnosed him with a few years back… but intimacy seemed to trigger it…

PTSD. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; what a joke! How could something from the past affect a person this much? Kevin understood, though, since it was really hard for him to think about his past, and it almost always made him nauseous, but why couldn't he just move on and forget about it?

It must have been due to seeing _him_ again outside school this morning. James Hyde. Kevin's former bully, boyfriend (or whatever he was) and murderer – because he _was_ convinced that Kevin died that night four years ago. Though he doesn't remember everything; Kevin could still recollect parts of the conversation taking place over his lifeless body.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

He had his eyes closed… he didn't know if he was lying on his back, side or on his stomach; he didn't feel anything. All he felt was ice cold numbness, as if his head and whole body was stuffed with cotton. Though, he could still somehow feel them kick him all over his body.

He heard people around him talking, shouting at each other, laughing… some of them excitedly.

He could hear one voice that stood out from the others; a girl, she was the only female there in an ocean of male voices. " _What the fuck have you done?! Are you insane?!_ "

Male voices quieting down… one of them saying something, but Kevin can't hear him.

" _Fuck off, James!_ " the female shouts and it sounds like she shoves someone, who stumbles. He sounds pissed, and drunk, and the female shrieks: " _GET OFF OF ME!_ "

" _Hey, hey, hey!_ " all the other males tries to help the girl, and then everything goes black.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

A very intense chill ran through Kevin's spine as he remembered that one memory he always tried to forget the most; the feeling of dying, and people fighting over his body like hungry hyenas fighting over a dying wildebeest. That girl… Kevin still didn't know who she was, but she seemed to be the only one that wanted to help him… but no one actually did that night, since no one claimed to be the one who called the ambulance, no one came to visit him at the hospital. They just left him on the street. They left a fourteen year old… to die… alone.

He sighed as he sat there on that bench. Legs and hands began shaking. It wasn't Edd's fault that Kevin was a broken mess; he didn't deserve this. He deserved better; Eddward Vincent deserved a boyfriend without PTSD; someone who _didn't_ have flashbacks whenever they get intimate with each other, someone who won't say the wrong name.

Kevin leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, he growled. He was mad at himself, and at the same time he had made up his mind… he didn't want to hurt Edd more than what he had already done. He could stop this before it got too out of hand.

He was going to talk to him tonight.

He changed into his grey jogging pants and white hoodie, collected all his stuff to go home, and noticed the black ski hat with white stripes on the floor. He picked it up and put it in his pocket, and then he left the school building with his bag over his shoulder and crossed the empty parking lot towards his motorcycle.

It was still light outside, time being only half past six in the beginning of summer, and his bike was fully visible on the spot where he always parked it, but when he came closer he moaned, almost growled again and dropped the bag on the ground.

"Awe, maaaan… what the… fuck?" Kevin crouched down on one knee and began stroking the flat back tire with his fingertips. "Just why? Why, why, why-"

He stopped talking. Someone must have done this, someone who didn't want him to get home too easily. His face felt hot and he began to fume. It couldn't be Edd, could it? Wanting revenge for what had happened in the locker room… no, that would just be pity, and Eddward wouldn't do something like that.

But that short tempered best friend of his might.

Of course it was Sampson, that stupid, little shit! _I'm going to fucking kill him_ , Kevin thought over and over as he paced back and forth on the parking lot. He clenched his fists as if he was ready to punch something, but took a deep breath and calmed down. He couldn't stay here any longer if he wanted to get home tonight; he needed to start to walk.

Neither his father nor his mother owned a trailer, and he refused to ask his father for any help at all revolving his bike. He could just hear his voice on the phone: " _I told you you should get a job and buy yourself a car. Now look at you; all stranded on a high school parking lot with no working vehicle. I hope this will teach you to listen to me in the future._ " So that call was off the table… and he didn't know anyone else to call; so walking home, dragging his bike with him was his only option right now.

There was no need to mope, he thought, unlocked his bike and started leading it towards the road. He counted how long it would take him to get home by foot, and thought that if it took him fifteen minutes on his bike – eight if he didn't mind the speed signs – so it would take about half an hour to walk maybe? Okay, forty minutes because of the weight of the bike while leading it, but no longer than that!

After twenty minutes, though, Kevin had to rethink everything, since he hadn't walked even one fourth of the way, so it was going to take much longer than what he had counted for. But before he gave up all hope a dark red, almost black, van passed him on the road, slowed down and backed up. This was it! Someone saw that he needed help – someone with a van – and was now backing up to ask him if he wanted a lift. He wasn't even too scared if the driver would turn out to be a murderer or rapist of some sort; Kevin had fought before and knew how to defend himself.

The van stopped and the window on the passenger side rolled down. Kevin's smile froze as he saw the driver's face, and the air he was breathing in to talk to the driver got stuck in his throat.

"Greetings, Barr." A smile tore his face in half; his brown eyes sparkled out of jeer – those dark, ominous eyes – and his nostrils flared at Kevin; like a dog sniffing its prey. Not him… not now… "Need help with that bike?"

"Uh…" Kevin gulped, tried to come up with something to say, but he was still speechless; like that time at Nazz's party. "I…" why was he so utterly and so immoderately scared out of his senses?

"Come on; let me give you a ride home." James Hyde, or Cheetah, turned off the engine and got out of his van. He walked around it and opened the sliding door on the side where Kevin stood with his motorcycle, still not saying a word. "I was just passing and noticed you walking by yourself with your bike. I don't know what's wrong with it, and it's a long way home from here, you know."

Kevin slowly shook his head, clenching his jaws, and fists around the handles on his motorcycle, but he could still not say a word.

Cheetah sighed. "Hey… I know where you come from, okay? I'm not stupid. I know what I did and I… I wish that I didn't… But I did my time in prison, and I learned a lesson. If I could turn back time and undo what I did to you, I would sacrifice everything I own just to do it." He looked at Kevin with shiny, regretful eyes. "Please… I know that you will never forgive me, but please, let me just give you a ride home. That's the least I can do. I've changed."

Something in his voice made Kevin to carefully nod his head. Cheetah's face shone again, and he grabbed Kevin's bike, lifted it as if it was nothing and gently put it in the back of his van. He then closed the sliding door and turned around.

"Whoa; you're taller than me now, I would never imagine you as a tall guy growing up. Well, hop in, Barr; let's take you and your motorcycle home." James opened the door on the passenger side and waited for Kevin to move.

He hopped in; James closed the door and then walked around the van towards the driver's side. During the short amount of time it took him to walk to the other side Kevin had started to hyperventilate. What was he doing? What _the actual fuck_ was he expecting from this? He was sitting on the passenger seat of _his murderer's_ van. He was going to ride in a _dark van_ with the guy who _tried to kill him_ four years ago. Had he gone insane?!

Though he knew that he could now defend himself… he also knew that this fear was psychological, and he couldn't control it if his life depended on it.

Cheetah hopped in on the driver side, turned the key and started the engine. He looked forward, and Kevin did the same. He didn't know what to say; he had never been this speechless before. While the van sped up Kevin began to discreetly look around for any weapons; if he was planning on using them himself he had no idea; but if he saw a gun somewhere in reach of Cheetah, then Kevin was going to make sure that he was going to be the one to grab it first.

"So…" Cheetah said to his left, and Kevin jumped from the sudden sound. "… I heard that you're having your final game next Saturday?"

"Yeah…" Kevin said. His voice sounded all rough and gravelly after being so nervous all the time, and it drew attention to him more now in this small and quiet space in the van.

Cheetah seemed to react to his voice as well, and smiled a little while still looking forward. "Is Dawson still coach?"

"Yeah."

"So what's wrong with your bike?" Cheetah tried to make Kevin talk more, which only angered Kevin; this was exactly what James Hyde did, manipulating people into doing what he wanted them to do.

And of course, it still worked on Kevin, and his anger disappeared in a second. "Flat tire, I think that someone slashed it."

They were both quiet for a few seconds. Cheetah looked at Kevin, back on the road and then back at Kevin again. "It was a long time ago I heard your voice. I'm sorry… never mind." He stopped by a red light; they'd now reached the town of Peach Creek. "Well, that sucks. With your bike, I mean. Do you suspect anyone?" he asked with a sense of humor on his voice.

"No. Maybe it just got flat during the day. I don't know, actually. And didn't you drive around in a jeep earlier?"

"That was my buddy's jeep. He lets me use it whenever his girlfriend wants a ride somewhere." Kevin sighed and started massaging his temples. "Hey, what's wrong?" asked Cheetah.

"To be perfectly honest with you, Hyde; I'm stressed out of my mind. There's just… too much going on right now, then my bike and now…"

"Me?" James asked, and Kevin nodded. "I'm sorry I just popped up like this and surprised you out of nowhere, but as you may already know by now; Marie Kanker and I are dating, and I had no idea that she knew you guys from the cul-de-sac. And when I saw you I… again; I'm sorry… if I scared you or something, I was just so… excited seeing you again. I couldn't restrain myself when I saw you by that fire. After all these years…"

Everything he said _would_ be triggering all the warning signals throughout Kevin's body and soul, but some things just seemed to stop working around Cheetah; especially sense and reason. Kevin actually felt flattered… "I had no idea…" he said. "Still, though…"

"Yeah, I know, I… I fucked up. I wish I didn't take that pill…"

Kevin looked at James, and his eyes looked shinier than before; as if he was truly remorseful. "Pill?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah… you remember Diaz? He gave me some fucking pill earlier that day and it really fucked me up. I had no control over myself and when the cops found me the week after the effect was gone, of course. But if they'd found me earlier then I would still be in jail. Still… that was some serious shit and I…" James turned his face a little to look at Kevin, he sighed, and then watched the road again. "Kevin… believe me… I didn't know what I was doing, I… all I remember from that night was that I was stumbling around with some friends, and then you showed up in front of us saying things like… that you hated me… and wanted to break up and… I just remember that I was hurt, that my heart broke from the words you said… and I didn't want to lose you… but the rest I have no recollection of. People told me what I had done to you that night, but I can't remember anything more than that."

 _Bullshit_ , was what Kevin _wanted_ to say. "So you were… were you really high on drugs?"

"Yes, I was high! I was wasted! I don't remember shit and everything happened because of that fucking Diaz!"

Kevin sighed. Something felt strange, but at the same time it felt… kind of… familiar… talking to James. "Why didn't you visit me at the hospital then?"

"Kevin… I know you're hurt… Believe me; I really wanted to visit you, I wanted to save you, pick you up and take you away from that shithole-" James bit his lip, looked like he had said too much. "But I had the cops looking for me, and I needed to hide from them. But I tried to come see you. Every day I tried, but I had to hide from the cops first… but they found me anyway, and I didn't have time to explain this to you."

"You could've said something in the trial." Kevin mumbled.

"I know… but I was so stressed out… and seeing you with the bandage around your head like that, and knowing that it was my fault… I _wanted_ them to take me in. I needed to get punished for what I did to you. I was dangerous… That's why I shouted for you when they took me away; I wanted you to visit me so that I could explain everything to you. But you didn't."

James turned left; they had reached the cul-de-sac. Kevin stared out the windshield and noticed the boy sitting on the steps outside his neighbor's house; it was Eddward. Kevin felt ashamed again, now even more so as he sat in a car with his ex-boyfriend. "Thank you… for the ride."

"No problem. Wait!" James opened the glove compartment on Kevin's side – having his hand this close to his crotch felt really awkward – took out a small piece of paper and closed it again. He handed Kevin the note. "My phone number. Now that you have a flat tire I'm guessing you're going to need a lift someday."

Kevin took the note, gave James a stiff smile and opened the door. He stepped out of the van, opened the sliding door and took his motorcycle out (he _could_ carry it himself, but it had looked much lighter when Cheetah put it inside the van), and before closing the door he said: "Again; thanks for the ride, James."

"Hey, Kevin, come on; call me Jim. You know, for old times' sake." He looked over at Edd who now stood up, from Eddy Sampson's house. "You have my number. Call me, okay, Kevin?" he said a little louder.

He'd raised his voice only so that Edd could hear him, for sure. "Yeah, okay. Bye…" he said and closed the sliding door.

James smiled through the window, waved to Kevin and blinked with the main beams twice before driving off and leaving the cul-de-sac; and he had done that only to temporarily blind Edd who began walking towards Kevin.

"Was that him? That… Jim… guy…" Edd asked. He'd walked a few steps closer, but stopped just before he reached Kevin's driveway. He looked at his feet and had his arms crossed over his stomach; as if he was trying to hold something together. He looked heartbroken.

"Look, Edd…" Kevin sighed. This was his chance… Edd deserved better, so Kevin let him believe whatever he believed. So he didn't say anything about it. Instead he reached into his pocket and took Edd's ski hat out, walked the last few steps to close the distance between them and handed him the hat. "You forgot this in the locker room."

"Thanks." Edd didn't put it on his head. He looked up, and Kevin's heart shattered as he looked into his shiny eyes. Edd's eyebrows dropped, and he made an extremely tortured face. "I actually thought… I thought that… that we…" he breathed jerkily; he tried really hard not to cry.

"I'm sorry…" was all Kevin could say.

The door flung opened behind him and his mother ran out on the driveway. "Kevin! I've tried to call you on your cell! It's Honey, I don't know what to do!"

…

It had gotten worse.

Much worse.

Kevin's mother had done everything right; she gave the little dog her muscle relaxant as she got a seizure, but it had no effect this time, so she gave the dog a second one… and a third one… but nothing seemed to help. This was the first time something like this had ever happened, and when Kevin entered the kitchen an hour ago he was met with the sight of his beloved dog, all stiff on the ground with grey eyes and blue tongue… He had never seen anything like it, and he couldn't do anything about it.

The seizure stopped by itself, though, a couple of minutes later, and a minute after that… she had another one.

That was an hour ago. Kevin was lying on his bed with Honey lying on top of his chest. He patted her gently from her nasal bone, over her head and back, and she slept deeply. Tears silently streamed down Kevin's face, making his neck and pillow wet. But he didn't care; this was going to be his last night with his best friend.

When the dog had calmed down enough an hour ago Kevin gave his mother permission to call Dr. Hess, and he said that they could take Honey in straight away the next morning. This was exactly what he had warned about and finally Kevin saw how much pain Honey had been in whenever she had had a seizure. No one deserved that; especially not the most important creature in Kevin's life.

Kevin kissed Honey on her pink little nose, and whispered; "I love you…"

In loving memory of my brothers dog Aik (pronounced as Ike) who was epileptic.

The end of this chapter is kind of based of what happened to Aik; he had several siezures in a row when he was only four years old, and my brother finally decided to put him down... Aik was the most lovable little pooch in the whole world and I loved him so much and still misses him to pieces... There's a picture of him over at my tumblr; search for **limberjArt**.

Thank you!


	14. Sunset

Hello, my honeys! I need your help! As you may have noticed; I haven't been active in a looong time. Not here; not on my tumblr. (I just had a baby and have moved apartments and my family AND my fiancée's family will celebrate christmas at our place so we have a lot to do right now!) So, that's what's up with my life right now :) Somehow I managed to write an entire chapter anyway so here you go!  
Okay, this is what I need help with; please try to share this chapter EVERYWHERE. I have forgotten my password to my tumblr ( **limberjArt** ), where I have most of my followers (maybe not to this story but I think most of them get notices of new chapters over there). So share, share, share! :) THANK YOU!

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* * *

 **Sunset**

 **Eddy**  
His heart was racing, brain was driving on the highest gear and the stomach pulled into knots. A betrayal, one big betrayal; that was exactly what it felt like! His whole world was turned upside down and it felt like nothing could ever be normal again. He just wanted to turn back the time to simpler days; when they were only three. Ed, Edd and Eddy. The three best friends who never betrayed each other, never lied to each other and, above all, never chose anyone outside the trio in front of their closest friends.

"Eddy? Are you in a hurry somewhere?" Ed asked. He stood in the corridor where Eddy had left him.

Eddy didn't answer. He continued to run through the corridor, flung the school's front door open and jumped down all the steps. When he reached the car, he started the engine with shaky fingers and stepped on it out of there. His two friends came to the parking lot at the same time; the tall one who didn't understand a thing, and the clever one who panicked, ran towards the car with tears in his eyes to try to stop it. But Eddy just floored it out on the road and drove home.

Home… back to Peach Creek's dead end. What was there to return to? Who would he talk to about what he has just witnessed? Who would understand?

He continually prevented himself from thinking that he really didn't have anything to do with this; because he was most devastated over how alienated he felt – why was he always the last one to find out about things; why did no one trust him enough to tell him their secrets?  
It was not only that Double D sat there, in Kevin Barr's lap with his face pressed against the football player's snout; but it was that Eddy had never had any idea that Double D actually liked guys... and that Kevin, of all people, knew about it before Eddy. Who else knew before him? Ed? Nazz? The whole school?

On one hand, he didn't have to worry about Kevin trying with Nazz anymore, on the other hand; he still stole something from Eddy; now something even more valuable to him, and he was not going to accept it.

Even though he had no plans at all to drive home, he stood outside his house without turning off the engine. He got out of the car, went straight through the door and continued on to his room. His parents sat in the kitchen, and one of them - Eddy didn't note whom - asked why he left the door open, and then he opened the door to the closet in his bedroom. He dug through the closet and found the vodka bottle Nazz gave him a week earlier, which was in the back of the wardrobe, wrapped in the white shirt he had lent Nazz that same evening, then went back to the car.

Without thinking about it, he tossed the bottle on the passenger seat and drove off again. He turned out on the highway, threw a quick glance at the bottle and twisted off the cap. Eddy swallowed three mouth-fulls of the acidy liquid, cringed and coughed. It burned his throat and a strange heat spread from his mouth to his stomach and toes.

This was not his first time drinking alcohol, but it was the first time he drank by himself... in a car... in front of the wheel. He boiled as he was reminded of when Nazz and Double D had tried to trick him at the party a week ago; that was another thing with people around him-they all thought he was so stupid that he didn't understand anything. But he _did_ know that they gave him alcohol-free beer that evening; he just didn't want to make everything worse by starting a fight... that was something he did unintentionally too often anyways, because of his temperament. And he also knew why that was.

When he was little he was examined and diagnosed with mild autism; it was before Double D moved to Peach Creek from Lemon Brook, so that's why Edd didn't know about that piece of Eddy which he constantly fought with. And later, just before attending Peach Creek High School, he got the diagnosis of narcissism; another thing he had not told anyone. Sometimes it felt like Double D had figured it out without saying anything to Eddy - he is, after all, the smartest person Eddy knows.

Eddy drank some more from the bottle and continued driving on the highway. He drove on until it was spinning far too much in his head, so he took the first best exit. He read no signs, so he had no idea where he was.

He stopped the car at the roadside, shut off the engine and drank as much of the bottle as he could. The cellphone, which was in his jeans pocket, had been ringing all the way, but he had not had a single thought to answer it. He wasn't even remotely interested in who it might be, even though he had his suspicions. He wanted to sit there by himself, in the dark on the side of the road, and just think of himself for a while.

 **Eddward**  
Eddward let all the ringtones go before he hung up, and then pressed _call up_ again, and again, and again. The bus had turned into the school area just as Eddy drove off. Edd didn't know where Eddy was heading, but the best Edd could do was go home and wait for him there, and all the time he had called Eddy's cellphone, but Eddy had ignored all of them.

How could it go so wrong? He knew that Eddy was sensitive to changes, but he didn't want to tell him about his love life if it had turned out that he and Kevin would never become a thing; so it was _very_ convenient that Eddy stormed in on them in the locker room just the same second Edd learned that Kevin wasn't actually _his_ Prince Charming, but that he was in fact some other guy's Prince Charming…

His stomach cramped when he thought of Kevin, and the strange love triangle that he had dragged Edd into... Why did everything get so complicated suddenly? Last night, Eddward was overjoyed - he had all his friends on his side, plus he had just begun dating his greatest crush ever. But now... He had lost everything, it felt like.

Kevin... Eddy... how could he solve this mess now? Edd decided that Eddy was most important right now. Kevin could just go to his precious Jim, as he had been mumbling about. Eddward collapsed on the seats in the back of the bus with his phone to his ear. Eddy is more important right now.

…

Eddy, of course, was not home. His mother told Edd that he had just been into his bedroom for a second, and then drove off in his car again, as though he had been in a hurry. She asked if Edd would like to come in and wait for him, but he said he would sit outside on the stairs and wait instead. She wanted to know more about what happened, but all Edd could tell her was that they had been fighting, but he promised her he would do everything to get Eddy home as soon as possible.

…

He waited outside Eddy's house for a few minutes when a dark red van, which he had never seen before, rolled into the Cul-de-sac. Kevin got out of it, and a guy named James was driving.

"Call me Jim, for old times sake." said the guy on the driver's side, blinded Edd with the head beams so that he couldn't see the face of the man, and drove off.

Edd wanted to confront Kevin, but Mrs Barr came running out of the house before he had time to say much. Something was wrong with Kevin's dog Honey, so he just left everything and ran in.

Edd understood. The poor dog had had a hard time, and this time it sounded serious; it seemed like Honey wasn't going to make it. While being angry at Kevin, Edd couldn't help but feel a strong sense of empathy to him. No matter how much he hated Kevin right now...

…

Eddy didn't come back that night, but he answered his phone at twelve, and was not particularly too easy to make any sense out of.

" _Yo..._ "

"Eddy? Eddy! Where are you? Are you okay?"

" _I, uh… don't worry..._ "

"You sound strange. Eddy, are you hurt? Please tell where you are! I'll go there!" Edd got up from the stairs and started walking towards his own house across the Cul-de-sac. He could ask his mother for a ride or, at worst, call a cab.

" _No, I'm fine. I swear…_ "

"Why do you sound like that? Has something happened to you?"

" _How do I sound? I'm fine, I said._ "

"Are you drunk? Have you been drinking alcohol?"

" _I have a little left... didn't drink everything..._ "

Edd's heart sank. The bottle ... Eddy had driven away somewhere and brought the Vodka bottle he received from Nazz with him. He sounded too drunk to take care of himself, and it didn't matter how many questions Edd asked; it didn't seem that Eddy could really answer any of them.

"Are you inside the car, Eddy?" Edd asked. He sat in the living room with his mother next to him on the couch, and the cellphone was on the table in front of them with the speaker on. Edd had discreetly told her that Eddy had been drinking, and wanted help and support from his mother who was a doctor… and a grown up.

" _Yes._ "

"Have you turned the engine off?" asked Edd's mother.

" _Uh ... yeah.._."

"Okay, good." Said Mrs Vincent. "Can you pull the keys out of the ignition and throw them to the back seat? Can you do that, sweetheart?"

A clink was heard from the speakers. " _Done._ " muttered Eddy.

"Good. Eddy, I want you to lock all the doors, lean back and close your eyes. You'll go to sleep now, do you understand? And we'll call you tomorrow morning and pick you up. Do not drive anymore tonight. Do you promise?"

It clicked four times as if Eddy locked all four doors. " _Yes._ "

"Do you promise, Eddy?" asked Edd again as an echo of his mother.

" _Yeah, I promise, Socks._ " Eddy yawned, acting a bit like himself again. Probably he appreciated that they cared about him.

"Okay. See you tomorrow. Good night, Eddy." said Mrs Vincent.

" _Good night._ " Eddy replied.

"Good night, Eddy." Edd said, and hung up. He turned to his mother. "Thank you for not scolding him."

"I have taken care of a lot of drunk teens at the hospital, and most of them has their stomachs pumped. It doesn't help anyone to get angry with them, since they always do the opposite to what you tell them." His mother smiled warmly and wiped a tear from Edd's cheek. "Try to get some sleep. I know you're worried about him, but it actually sounded like he was on the verge of falling asleep. And I'm sure that he doesn't have to have his stomach pumped tonight."

Edd nodded with a sob stuck in his throat. "Okay. Good night." he got up and walked towards the stairs.

"Good night, Sweetie. Tomorrow we take care of your friend. "

 **Nazz**  
Eddy's car was not waiting outside Nazz's house as it used to this morning, and it was only Ed who stood by the bus stop, along with his little sister Sarah and her best friend Jimmy.

"Where are the other two?" she asked Ed, sat down on the bench next to him.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Double D sent me a text this morning; he said neither him nor Eddy would come to school today... but I never asked why."

"That was strange. Well, how was practice yesterday?"

…

She sat beside Ed on the bus and they chatted all the way to school, where May met them at the entrance. All three went through the corridor to their lockers and then Ed went one way while Nazz and May went the other.

"Have you seen Kevin today?" Nazz asked May.

She shook her head while fiddling with her cellphone. "No, unfortunately not." then she smiled; probably texting Ed. Nazz tilted her head a little where she sat next to May in their classroom to watch her display; and all she saw was just bunches of hearts and a few occasional letters.

Nazz leaned back in her chair again and sighed. She couldn't avoid meeting Jonny's eyes as he entered the classroom. He said nothing, and did nothing special to show that he had noticed her either, but her heart skipped a beat as she watched him sitting down at the table in front of her and May. Jonny was not in school that often, but in recent times he had become better at it. Maybe he'd been warned by the principal this close to the graduation...

Nazz was determined that she was going to do it today. She was going to tell him, but she didn't know if she dared to if Kevin wouldn't pop up any time soon. She needed his support, but at the same time she couldn't let a chance like this slip by - when was he going to be at school next time? She had no idea where he lived, because he didn't live at home with his parents at the Cul-de-sac where everyone else lived.

…

All morning she waited for Kevin to show up at school, but he never did, and he didn't answer his cell.

"Kevin, where are you?" she whispered to herself, where she sat in the cafeteria which was almost empty after lunch.

The lunch ladies had started cleaning the tables, and the only students left in the cafeteria were Nazz and Jonny; who sat at his usual table at the far end of the room. It was widely known that the school's outcast always sat in the cafeteria during lessons; either that or that he was not at school at all. He always sat there if one wanted him something; but most of the time nobody dared go close to him - he was also known as the school's psychopath who could kill with only one look. He was almost more notorious than Kevin.

"I need you ..." whispered Nazz while writing the same words in a text to Kevin.

She put her cellphone in her pocket as she felt a pair of eyes burning the back of her neck; she knew that Jonny watched her from the other side of the room. She took a deep breath and got up. It couldn't wait any longer, and it was as Double D had said - the worst thing that could happen is that he says no, but then she knows at least and doesn't have to wonder _what if_.

Jonny looked curiously at her where he sat leaned back on his chair with his arms crossed. At first he wrinkled his forehead when he realized that she was on her way over to him, but then he smiled wide... and spitefully. "Cheerleader." he welcomed her to his table. "What's on your mind?"

"I, uh ... need to talk to you about this thing ... about ... something that happened a few years ago." Nazz said with shaky voice. Her heart banged inside her chest and her head spun, it felt like she would throw up any time now.

"Did we know each other back then?" he asked with pronounced and utterly obvious mocking innuendo.

Nazz cleared her throat. "Jonny, I want to apologize for what I did at the bon fire party. When I..." she took a deep breath, felt the shame pumping through her body along with the blood. "... when I laughed at you." She looked directly at Jonny, who had stopped laughing. "I'm sorry. I mean it.  
That whole summer I was worried about you. I was looking for you, asking about you; but nobody knew where you had gone. I was so ashamed of what I had done... and I still am." Jonny leaned forward with his elbows on the table, listened to her without blinking; as if he didn't believe his own ears. And Nazz continued: "I didn't know you had feelings for me until it was too late, and I..." she paused to try and control her nervousness. "... I have... realized lately... that I had feelings for you too... and have... still..." she finished as she looked down at the table that stood between her and the punk rocker with a piercing look.

He got up slowly, and to Nazz's horror he walked around the table and stood so close to her that she could feel the scent of him - some kind of strong hair gel and a cheap deodorant; but she couldn't imagine anything that smelled better than him. She barely moved. Jonny took a gentle grip of her chin with his index finger and thumb, turned her face to his and forced her to look into his bright green eyes.

"I never thought you'd feel the same. I love you too."

"You do?" whispered Nazz.

Jonny released her face... he started laughing. "I can't believe you fell for that! Do girls like you really enjoy nonsense like that?"

"What?"

He continued laughing. "How can you be in _love_ with me? We don't even know each other! And I've never had _any_ feelings for you, where did you get that from?"

"But... I thought... Plank..."

"Plank? You mean when I carved your name in it? We were children! And we were just friends until you decided to humiliate me in front of all of those people! But I never fell in love with you." He patted Nazz so hard on her back that she almost lost her balance. "But thank you for the apology. It's accepted, so to speak." He continued laughing. "And I'm flattered, so thanks. I guess. But there will never be anything between us. Buddies?" He held out his hand.

Nazz didn't know what to do. She smiled with big eyes while the shame and humiliation poured over her like an ice cold deluge, shaking his hand without really looking at him.

"See ya 'round, Chap!" Jonny walked laughing out of the cafeteria and left Nazz alone.

She walked straight out of school, across the parking lot and past the bus stop. She started walking home, and when she couldn't see the school anymore from the road in the woods everything burst. The tears began to flow uncontrollably and she sobbed loudly where she walked.

…

It took her over an hour to arrive to Peach Creek. She took the bus the remainder of the way from the city, and walked home from the bus stop. She stood on the balcony to the guest room upstairs looking out over the field without really knowing why, but then realized. A person sat in the middle of the field in the tall grass; a person with a black leather jacket and red baseball cap.

It was Kevin. Somehow she knew that he was there.

Nazz walked down the stairs and out onto the porch, she walked over the yard and climbed through the fence onto the fields. She walked slowly over the fields. She had no idea what Kevin did out there, but she really needed a shoulder to lean on, and he had to answer for not being in school today. He had actually promised to defend her if Jonny would get nasty.

But she immediately forgot what had happened at school when she reached Kevin kneeling in front of a wooden cross wedged in the mud, and a dog collar in his hands. He turned around when he heard her approaching.

"Oh, no," whispered Nazz when she saw his face; it was all red and swollen, his eyes were shiny and he looked like a man who had lost everything. "Is that..?" But she dared not finish her question.

"Yeah... she's gone now." Kevin just murmured back. It sounded like his weak voice hadn't been used in a while.

Nazz sat down next to him and put her arm around him. "I'm so sorry, Kevin. I really am."

Then they sat there, quietly, until the sun began to set.

* * *

I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes on the diognosises here and there. I study some of them due to the profession I've chosen, and therefore know a LITTLE BIT about some of the things I've mentioned in this story. I want to tell you all that I do not think that it's cool or anything to have a "diagnosis" of any sort, it just suits my story and the characters.


	15. Dark forest

Hello, hello, hello!

New tumblr: **jeelindberg** since I forgot the passward to my old one (limberjart) and tumblr support was to no help at all!  
I'm going to try my hardest soon to make everything look more "professional", but as for now I need a little bit more time.

I will start with the comments as usual:  
 **Gam08** : Thank you and I hate you too :D (no, I don't!) I will try to finish this story soon enough, we're so close to the end now, guys! And Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you too! That translate was spot on and correct :)  
Then I had another comment but replied to you in private since that comment needed an answer right away!

New favorites then:  
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New followers:  
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Thank you all so much! :) Hope you like this new chapter! It's getting darker...

* * *

 **Dark forest**

 **Eddward**  
Eddy had finally told Edd's mother where he had parked - right by the start of a hiking trail about ten miles from Peach Creek - so she, Eddward and Eddy's mother went there to pick him up early in the morning. The Vodka bottle was almost completely emptied, and although Mrs. Vincent tried to calm Mrs. Sampson all the way to the hiking trail, Edd got a scolding so bad it echoed in the forest. Edd's mom just sighed, and she and Edd jumped into Eddy's car to drive it back to Peach Creek.

Even though he had now come home and was in safety, Eddward continued to worry about his friend. Eddy hadn't had to be pumped, but the alcohol had ruined him so much that everything he could do when he came home was drinking lots of water and then try sleeping away the rest of the hangover. Finally, Mrs. Sampson listened to what Eddwards mother said - after all, she was a doctor, so Eddy was left alone to sleep.

Eddward got a day off from school, so when Eddy had fallen asleep, he and his mother went home again, and when she went to work, Edd was left sitting alone in his room... where all thoughts came back, all memories from yesterday.

Not only did he have to sit there and stress over how his best friend hated him, but he also blamed himself for it because it was completely unnecessary. Eddy had witnessed the very last seconds of Edd's and Kevin's far too short relationship, felt the betrayal from the surprise and punished himself, which in turn punished Edd, because Eddy knew Edd would feel such guilt that he wouldn't be able to stand it... Eddy had been hurt, and he also knew how to get Eddward to hurt himself.

Eddward was aware of all this; how his friend knew so much about him, could control him and drive him to self-harm, yet he still did what he felt he needed to. His stomach cramped and his throat soared, some kind of white noise filled his ears as if he was under water, and he hyperventilated. He knew what he needed to do to make everything well again; this time, meditation wouldn't help him.

He sat on the floor in his walk-in closet, with his knees pulled up against his belly and picked hair strands, one by one, with shaking fingers. Sometimes it hurt so much that his eyes were watering out of pain, but that pain was preferable to his intense thoughts.

Eddy.

Kevin.

He had lost so much thanks to his own stupidity. Sure he was intelligent outward and he had good grades; but it didn't stop him from being naive, gullible, dense; totally and incredibly fucking crack-headily stupid. Obviously Kevin would never choose someone like him! He had just exploited him for... well, for something! Perhaps the rumors had already begun to flourish school, maybe Kevin wasn't even gay, and just acted to make fun of Eddward, and now he was laughing with his friends from the football team...

A quick and hard yank. It hurt so much that he forgot what he was thinking for a short moment; he could only sit there and bite himself in his lip, and when he felt how it started to drop from his eyebrows down to his cheek, he finally relaxed - he had pulled such a large lump of hair that it had started bleeding in the roots, but now he was satisfied. At least for a little while.

 **Eddy**  
He woke up sometime closer to night as the sun was going down. At first he didn't remember at all what had happened, but then it struck him quite hard. His head spun, he felt nauseous and was hungry. He had spent the night in his car, drank alcohol and just drove around. He recalled that he had ignored every call from Eddward; he wanted to worry him: wanted to make him feel as bad as Eddy did. Finally he fell asleep in the car, and his mother came and picked him up the next morning. Now he lay there in his bed, in his bedroom, with the same anxiety feelings as the night before; if not even more reinforced. He was also trying to endure the worst headache he had ever had.

He got up, but couldn't decide whether to take something to eat or just drive away again. Somewhere where they can't find him.

How did he think yesterday? He was upset about how Double D had betrayed his confidence by going behind his back; both with apparently being gay and that he was in love with the school's most abominable psychopath... but was it really _that_ what he was most upset about? When Eddy thought about it, that wasn't the only reason he was so angry. He felt emptiness more than he felt anger, and it was not against Eddward; but it was more to himself than to anyone... Now Eddy was the only one in his circle of friends that was... alone. Both his best friends had found someone... without him...

Why was nobody interested in _him_?

Would he be alone forever? Was he really that ugly, that small and pathetic, that... useless? Even Double D - the most nervous guy on earth who never let anyone truly get to know him - had found someone in this great world; which was also gay just like him… apparently.

Eddy's head spun. Everything was so new, so changed. Nothing would ever be as it was, and nothing would ever change for him. While his two friends were moving forward in life - they were going to have children and get married - the time was quite still for the third member; and it would never move forward. Perhaps he should just give up and let Lee Kanker…

Lee Kanker. Wait…

Oh, no ... oh, no!

Eddy finally remembered something from yesterday, and a chill spread throughout his body. He threw himself back on the bed, turned open mouthed into his pillow; screamed without a voice. He squeezed his eyes together, strained his entire body and wanted nothing but to sink into the abyss.

He had gone home to her. To Lee Kanker. He'd parked his car on their driveway, teetered up to their door... he had raised his hand and knocked on it; called out her name.

Why? Why did he do that?! What was wrong with him?! How was he still breathing?! How could he still exist?

No matter how much Eddy tried to repress the embarrassing encounter with Lee, the details stood intrusive... all words... and he couldn't stop it.

 _The night before, approximately 11:15 PM_  
After he had knocked on her door, she finally opened. A man's voice had yelled in there that she had to go and open the effing door, and get rid of the one who stood there before he himself went out to kill him. So she opened, and stood there in the doorway with a big smile on her face as she looked at Eddy; who was actually as tall as her, perhaps a couple inches taller even.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" She said, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed. "Isn't it my little prince Charming?"

Eddy burped. "Lee ... I have something I want- *hic* I want to tell you..."

"Are you drunk, Eddy?" She asked condescendingly, as if he were just a small child trying to play adult.

"I may have had a small drink. But that's not what I'm here for." Eddy continued.

"So what is it? Did you come here to have fun? "Lee walked towards Eddy, put her hand on his chest and dragged a finger along his back while walking around him. She stopped in front of him again with both her hands on his waist. "Do you want to come in?" She whispered.

Eddy gulped, and made up his mind. He shrugged. "Okay."

"Wait, you're really drunk, aren't you?"

"I can handle myself." Eddy said, suddenly angry.

"You were going to go in with me." Lee said, surprised. "Do you know what I was going to do with you inside?"

"Nothing that I- *burp* didn't want to myself."

Lee sighed. "How are you? Really?"

"Okay, okay!" Eddy swayed, and Lee grabbed him just before he dropped his balance, and then she kept holding on to him because he couldn't stand on his own legs. "I am a virgin. Okay? I need to get rid of it, and who's better at taking virginities than Lee Kanker? You've been yearning for me for years! That's why I'm coming to you. Take me now, I'm yours!"

"Listen here, pal." Lee suddenly sounded very grown up. "You have drunk one too many drinks and should go home before anything worse happens."

"But you have your chance now... I told you I was yours."

She sighed again. "Don't you understand? I don't want to sleep with you, let alone take your virginity! You are fifteen years old - five years younger than me!"

"Seventeen…"

"Well, alright! What I mean is that... okay, I've been in your face for years but I've never meant it. I've just been messing with you. Don't you get it? You're just a kid. I would never get myself to actually... actually... "

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Steps were heard from inside the house and a man appeared in the hall behind Lee. "What are _you_ doing here, pipsqueak?"

It was Eddy's big brother, in the flesh; with his usual red flannel shirt, brown beret and green sunglasses.

"Big bro? What are you doing at the Kanker sisters' house?"

"The real question is what _you_ are doing here." Terry opened the door more and stood in front of Lee. She was trying to stop him but was shoved out of his way. "Did I hear that correctly? Are you hitting on my girlfriend?"

"Your... your..."

"That's right, pipsqueak; _my_ girlfriend! And she isn't taking any virginity; especially not from you! "

"Terry..." Lee hit his arm, forcing him to move so that she could look at Eddy. "I'm sorry, Eddy; but that's the truth... I'm with Terry. I always have, as long as I can remember, wanted to be with him, and now we finally both have jobs... and we've moved in together." She looked up at Eddy's brother as if he were this big and important hero. "I'm going to be honest here; I just messed with you... to get to Terry. You look so much alike. Sorry, Eddy. But it's probably best you forget about me." She leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek.

"Are you kidding me?" Terry murmured through his teeth.

"Oh, shut up and go in and watch TV!" Lee pushed him inside and slammed the door in Eddy's face.

Then Eddy hopped in the car again and drove off, and that's where his memories disappeared completely.

 **Kevin**  
Kevin persuaded Nazz to go in and eat, and she was determined to come back in an hour with food for him, despite his attempt to get her to understand that he was still not going to eat anything. She went back to her house, and Kevin was left in the mud with the black leather collar in his hands. He felt completely empty after this day, and didn't understand how it could have gone so fast, but at the same time how the day never ended.

Squelching steps were heard in the mud behind him, but he didn't turn around as he thought it was just Nazz. Although the person that had arrived used a voice that was a bit too deep to be Nazz's:

"Nathalie said you would be here."

Kevin looked up. It was Eddward. Though he thought he would be nervous about seeing Edd again, he was surprised that was not the case... he actually didn't feel anything. No happiness. No sadness to see him. Nothing.

He just nodded and sighed.

"You don't have to say anything." Edd said, crouching next to Kevin, looking down at the wooden cross sitting in the mud in front of them. "I just wanted to pay my respects... I'm so sorry, Kevin, for this ..." he waved his hand to the collar. "She was really a fantastic dog. I remember the first time I…" he quieted. "I won't talk memories if you don't want to."

"You can tell stories about her if you wanna." Kevin said horse.

Eddward didn't react to his voice, and continued. "Okay... I remember the first time I met her. Father and I had been downtown, and when I went out of the car, a small white dog headed barking towards me. I was so scared; I didn't know her, I didn't know whose dog it was either."

Kevin chuckled. "Oh, yeah, I remember that. You squealed like a pig and jumped into the car again at full speed"

"I didn't squeal like a pig." Protested Edd, but then he smiled. "Okay, maybe I did."

They both laughed quietly.

"But then you got out to pet her anyway."

"That was because I saw that she was _your_ dog, and that she was just a puppy. She couldn't be dangerous."

"No ... she was never dangerous... Is that true? You were brave enough to pet that little ' _fighting dog_ ' because _I_ was the owner?"

"I haven't told you this, but I've actually liked you a long time now… Even years… But hey, it's okay to tell you; now when we're not going… you know… anyway… Let's just forget what I said; I'm only here to show my condolences."

Kevin looked out over the forest as he sat there quiet. Eddward was too nice… actually _too_ nice. He _wanted_ to explain to Edd, he really did but… he just couldn't. So instead he asked: "Do you have anything more?"

Eddward thought for a bit. "Another time I woke up in the middle of the night by someone barking beneath my window."

"Oh, yeah." Kevin groaned and banged his forehead with his palm. "Your mother had been at our house during the day and snuck her treats under the table."

"And she broke out of your house, followed the scent, and barked outside our house because she wanted more."

"It happened a couple of times, huh?"

"At least twice after that," replied Edd. "My mom just couldn't stop giving her treats under the table."

"No, she couldn't." A gust of wind danced around the field, the tall grass swayed and the wind continued toward the trees in the dark forest. A shill made Kevin shudder. "I hate that forest."

"Why?" asked Eddward, who had probably seen Kevin go there several times for walks with Honey.

Kevin sighed. "Ever since I was a kid, I have... refused to go into those woods. In forests at all, actually. They are kinda... creepy."

"They're probably pretty creepy when it's quiet; but they are also very peaceful."

"Not that forest." Kevin shuddered again. "One time, when we played here on the field, Honey ran into that forest... and I was looking and calling for her... I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life, and when she found me she scared the crap out of me. I picked her up in my arms and she was shaking, as if she had been scared too." Kevin didn't look at Eddward, but knew he was wide-eyed watching him from the side; he was actually telling a very private story of his - which wasn't particularly normal for Kevin. "But when we looked at each other... everything was released. We were no longer afraid... because we had each other. I stopped being afraid to enter the forest; since now it was ours." Kevin looked down at the cross and squeezed the collar in his hands. "But now... there is no way that I will set foot in that forest again... now that I look at it; it is as scary as it was when I was a kid, because now I no longer have her... she helped me..."

It didn't take long for Edd to come up with something to answer; It felt more like he was waiting to give Kevin some room to breathe after his story. "Some things you would rather do with someone, then it doesn't matter how many times you do it with that person; It will never feel entirely right to do it alone later, or with someone else. You had something in common; you needed each other. And I think... I know she was extremely grateful to have you; one who was as scared of the forest as she was; who actually came looking for her."

"I forgot you wanted to be a therapist." He didn't notice it first, but a tear ran down his cheek. Kevin quickly wiped his eyes with the front of his shirt, pretending Edd wouldn't notice. "Thank you..." he whispered.

At the same time, they heard a car rolling in to the cul-de-sac, with a large engine that roared loudly. They both turned to the road and saw a dark red van between the houses.

Kevin sniffled, wiped his face again and got up. "I need to go now."

"Oh... okay." Eddward also looked at the van. His face changed dramatically; he understood. "Yes, of course."

Kevin wished he could just explain; but the truth was that no explanation in the world would be good enough. More than anything; he also wished he could just stop being so cowardly, and stay with Edd... but he couldn't. As a magnet, he was drawn to the road, towards a person he knew only wanted to hurt him, but he was in some strange way feeling safe with him. Safe? It was more of a... habit, somewhat familiar. But safety?

Kevin almost ran over the field, leaving Eddward behind, leaving the wooden cross behind him; but still held a firm grip of the collar in his pocket. He ran, because he didn't want him to _wait_.

"It was about time." James said from the driver's seat when Kevin opened the door to the van and hopped in. He smiled casually, but Kevin knew he was a little annoyed; the signs were there. "Hey, I know you must feel really shitty right now; because your dog died... sorry, was I insensitive?"

"No... I'm fine..." whispered Kevin.

"You don't look like you're fine. Anyway, I was going to pick you up and just... drive around. I usually do that when I'm in a bad mood. Wanna do that? We can just drive around, talk a little, maybe stop and take something to eat on the road, and then I drive you home before bedtime. How does that sound?"

Kevin nodded, trying to smile.

Who is this person? He began to fall into old habits again and he really couldn't do anything to stop it. Everything within him screamed at him to jump out of the car before it was too late; but his muscles had completely given up and he couldn't move an inch.

James just smiled, started the engine and drove off.

...

They drove for about ten minutes before James turned off the bigger road onto a smaller road through the forest. Finally he slowed down, blinked toward the side of the road and eventually stopped the car. Kevin was nervous; he was sitting in a van with a dangerous person, beside the road in a dark forest. No one knew he was here, let alone who he was with.

"Hey..." James started, and Kevin held his breath instead of starting to hyperventilate. "I think it's pretty rigid between you and me right now, but I'm trying to make you understand that I've changed. What I did three years ago... I _do_ regret it, quite frankly. I just want you to be happy..."

James brought his right hand to Kevin, who instinctively knocked it away. No one had come near him for years; none except Nazz and Eddward; but something told him that this was a person who had absolutely nothing to do close to Kevin. But immediately after he had knocked away James's hand, there was something in his brain that clicked and made him shrink again, becoming smaller than James; he was somehow fourteen years old again. He knew he had done something wrong.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

Kevin was leaning over the toilet in one of the booths of the boys' bathroom, with both hands pressed against the cold tile wall and his toes digging into the front of his shoes. James groaned one last time and almost put all his weight on Kevin's back. This is how it went every time; even though Kevin said he didn't want to, James always got him to join in the end, very reluctantly... But that was how their relationship seemed to be - James nagged and threatened Kevin with several different scenarios... and Kevin yielded - every time.

"Now it's your turn." muttered James after catching his breath.

"No need." Kevin said quickly. "I finished too." He lied.

"You did?" James asked, surprised. "Okay, well then." He... cleaned up and pulled up his pants again and Kevin did the same. He waited for Kevin - who did everything very slowly - to finish before he bent down to kiss him.

The strange thing was that Kevin; despite the whole plan he had made up in his mind to how to leave James; forgot all old thoughts and melted when he felt James's lips against his. Of course he didn't like what had just happened; he never did because he was forced to do it, but he always got his reward in the form of the love from James in the end.

After that, the school day went on normally again; since they were going to keep the relationship secret, James continued to bully Kevin - pretending. Some days he was a little more harsh than others, but always apologized for it in the evening and promised that he would quit soon. James would stop being mean to Kevin around his friends and come out to the whole school that he loved Kevin...

That day never came.

Instead, he tried to hide their relationship even more by getting a girlfriend. Kevin had scolded James a whole evening the day he found out; but James promised she didn't mean anything to him - she was in fact just a friend, she obviously knew about everything and wanted to help James and Kevin keep it secret. But Kevin couldn't talk to her about it, because then he would just ruin everything.

Of course that was a lie…

James often cried to Kevin, and Kevin believed him. It was only much later that he understood that James was just a good actor; but he soon forgot it when he was in the claws of James, yet again, as a seventeen year old...

James didn't even try to hide his anger over Kevin's hand. He grabbed it; in a strong grip; and stared at Kevin with big, angry eyes. Had this been a completely different situation Kevin had knocked down the guy in a second - he knew how to defend himself now, he knew how to fight - but after this familiar look he got from James Hyde, he shrunk again, and turned fourteen, and he knew he was wrong.

"Sorry," Kevin heard himself say, though his ears roared as if he were going to faint.

James calmed down and released Kevin's hand. "It's okay. Sorry for being rough - but as I said; I want you to be happy."

"I know." Kevin said, who didn't know anything. In fact, he didn't believe a single thing James said, but the voice in his head was drowning and soon gone; it was just the shell outside that ruled now.

"Good." James tried again, and this time Kevin didn't hit his hand. He started caressing Kevin's knee, and slowly bringing his fingers up to his thigh.

Kevin kept looking straight ahead. He had learned that it didn't help to say no or try to compromise with James; it was better to just shut up and endure until everything was over.

...

At eleven o'clock in the evening they were back at the cul-de-sac - before bedtime just as James had promised. Kevin got out of the car, said good night and went to his house. He waited until the engine's sound had disappeared completely before entering. The door was locked, so his parents must have gone to bed already. He walked into his room and closed the door quietly, took a deep breath, but in the middle of the breath he growled between his teeth, grabbed hold of his open wardrobe door and tore it down from the threads that torn the wood into pieces. With a loud bang the entire wardrobe was ripped from the screws on the wall and fell down on the floor. Clothes, old footballs and the entire contents fell out.

"What in the name of god-" his father said upstairs.

Kevin didn't want to fight over the wardrobe right now (his dad wouldn't want to know why he was upset anyway) so he took three leaps through the room, opened his bedroom window and climbed out. He ran through the neighborhood, past Nazz's house and through the loose board in the fence behind it and ran further out over the field. He quickly found the wooden cross and fell on his knees in front of it.

No sound came out as he broke down; it felt like he couldn't breathe. He squeezed his eyes tightly, held the leather collar in an iron grip with his right hand, and put his left loosely over his chest.

The front of his shirt was wet with blood.

A painful cut stretched over his chest down to his stomach. A fresh cut, not very deep, but bleeding nonetheless. It was the first cut in over three years; and he knew it wouldn't be the last - James had promised to pick him up again the next night, and he didn't know how to get out this time around...


	16. IOU

Comments:  
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¡Muchas gracias por las bonitas palabras! Me hace muy feliz leer tus comentarios, siempre eres tan amable. Y lamento que termine pronto, y sí, por supuesto, siempre puede volver y leerlo nuevamente. ¡Gracias!  
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Guys... we're getting closer to the end. The next chapter will be the final one, and I hope that I will answer all of your questions and not leave any plot holes! Or else I'll just have a QnA after the final chapter where I answer all the questions about the story. Maybe I've been unclear somewhere D: Hopefully that wont happen!

Thank you all, my good friends for reading! :)

* * *

 **I.O.U**

 **Eddward**  
The next morning, on Wednesday, Double D went to the bus stop around the corner from his house. Ed was already on the bench waiting; he must have received a text message from Eddy already that he couldn't drive to school today. He sat down beside Ed.

"Good morning." He muttered; he cleared his throat so that his raspy voice wouldn't reveal how little he had slept last night. "How are you?"

"Good morning, Double D. Shit, you don't look too good." Ed replied.

"I don't?" Well, his appearance apparently gave away his tiredness. Edd shrugged and confessed. "It has been a sleepless night for me; I studied for the test."… the second statement was a lie. He had been up all night because of Kevin, and Eddy. The people around him he thought he knew, but who'd let him down over and over again.

"What test?" Ed asked.

Edd shook his head. "Sorry, I forgot to remind you; we have the final exam the whole next week, and it's History Monday morning. We can study the whole weekend if you want."

"Can't; Coach says we have to rest the whole day on Friday to be rested and ready on Saturday. That's why we won't have our last practice on Friday."

"Right; the game!" Edd face palmed himself. How could he forget such an important thing for Ed? "After school, then?"

"I have to see May after-"

"Ed." Double D said strictly. "You can't let your girlfriend take priority over school; besides, after the weekend it's only five days left, then you have the entire summer to be with her!"

"You're probably right..." Ed muttered. He picked up the bag he had in his lap while standing up. Edd noticed that it must contain all his football gear.

"When did you wash those last?" He asked.

It was Ed's turn to shrug his shoulders. "I honestly don't know."

Double D sighed. "I'll come over to your place after school; there are probably quite a few things other than studying that you have neglected. Right?"

Ed looked like he was thinking carefully about what Edd had said before the bus arrived, and just as the doors were closing after they (and Sarah and Jimmy who had arrived at the last second) had taken a seat they heard a voice cry:

"Wait for me!" Ed and Edd looked out the window from the bus and saw Nazz running towards it. Nazz went panting through the bus, said good morning to Sarah and Jimmy, noticed the two Eds, and fell down on the seat behind them. "Nice that you told _me_ that we would take the bus today again," she breathed. "It was Eddy's mother who told me that Eddy would stay home today; I had to knock on their door. What, is he sick, or something?"

Eddward, who was the only outsider besides his mother who knew the real truth, cleared his throat. "He's starting to get sick and had to stay home both yesterday and today." In fact; he was home because he was grounded. But he had to come back to school sooner or later; his mother couldn't keep him locked in his room forever, and especially not this close to the graduation.

"You were both home yesterday. Is there something I should know about?" she asked.

"No, don't worry. I feel much better today." Edd assured her. "A simple cold."

"You don't look too well. Are you sure you want to go to school today? Maybe you should stay home an extra day."

"He didn't sleep last night because he was studying for the test," Ed replied in his place.

"Which class?"

"History, Monday morning." Edd replied.

"We have English in the morning..." Nazz looked like she was thinking about something particular while watching Edd. "Are you sure there is nothing else?"

It wasn't what Nazz _said_ but the _way_ she said it that caused Eddward to react. She looked at him in the special way that only Nazz could, her "I-care-about-you"-way, with the look that said she already knew what was up, but still wanted to give Edd a chance to tell himself. But what did _she_ know, really?

Then he remembered; she and Kevin were becoming best friends again. Wait a minute... does she _know_? Does she know about Kevin and Eddward? Did she know that he was tricking Edd... or that he had another boyfriend and used Edd for... It confused him to even think about it. It was one thing or the other; and whatever it was, Kevin was a jerk, and somehow Nazz kinda… justified it.

Did that make Nazz his enemy? Should he hate her now? If she knew everything about them; but still was Kevin's friend… was she on his side, or was she genuinely worried about Edd's well-being on this matter?

Or; she simply noticed that Eddward didn't feel that good... something that Ed usually had a hard time with - he saw what he saw and believed in what he heard, while Nazz saw something else and was more skeptical.

Edd smiled; and hoped she wouldn't see the grief in his eyes. "I'm good; I'm just tired... and stressed about the tests."

"Okay..." Nazz nodded, but it didn't look like she was just gonna drop it. "Kevin probably won't come to school today, either." She looked at Ed when she said it, but glanced at Double D to see any reaction; but he was indifferent. "Did you hear about his dog?"

"What's with his dog?" Ed asked.

"She got sick while he was at the practice last Monday..." Edd said, but did everything to push the memory of that night. "They had to put her to sleep yesterday morning."

"So he doesn't feel very good right now." Nazz agreed, but looked a little bit strangely at Edd. She suddenly sounded stricter: "He has no energy to socialize with _anyone_ right now - but it's just because he's sad, understandably he doesn't have the strength to maintain any _relationship_ at this point of his life."

It made Edd fume - he finally understood, and Nazz had everything wrong! She clearly knew about him and Kevin; that one was for sure; but Kevin had probably been too busy after Monday that he hadn't been able to tell her that he and Edd wouldn't be seeing each other any longer. She thought she did Edd a _favor_ by telling this discreetly to him; because she thought his lack of sleep had to be due to Edd not hearing from Kevin enough.

As if he were an attention-whoring energy thief who didn't care about Kevin's feelings.

"I agree," replied Edd, and gave Nazz a strict glare back. "I saw him last night and I was just there to show my condolences - nothing more, nothing less." He felt this outstanding rage boiling within him. "Do you know anyone called Jim?"

He didn't know why he spat that out; but it must have been due to this whole misunderstanding. He knew Kevin was feeling bad about his dog and about what happened several years ago - but it didn't give him the right to use a person who just wanted him well. Edd had put all his feelings aside to go out to Kevin on the field - after all he had done - but still _he_ was blamed as the bad guy.

"Jim?" Nazz asked surprised; surprised by the sudden change of subject. "No I don't think so. Do you mean Jimmy? "She lowered her voice and nodded toward Jimmy sitting next to Sarah a few seats in front of them on the bus.

Edd shook his head, but felt unsure. "Have you ever heard anyone call him Jim?"

"No... Jim ... I don't think I know any Jim. Why?"

"Kevin knows a Jim. I don't know who it is, or... how close they are... but he sure knows a Jim; I found out the hard way."

Nazz tried to decipher this coded conversation they had because of Ed who sat next to Eddward, humming, while not wanting to reveal too much to each other at the same time, and finally said; "Kevin ... knows a Jim... while... with you…"

"While he and I... got to know each other, yes."

"How do you know..." she mumbled and shook her head, trying to keep track of everything, but at the same time sounding nonchalant. "How do you know that?"

"He muttered his name while we were about to... talk." Edd groaned, he didn't know how much he dared to tell Nazz, but at the same time thought it was already over now; so what if she knows?

Nazz started to blush, and then she cringed. "I'm sorry... really. I didn't mean to sound so accusing... but are you sure? You're not gonna proceed…"

"As friends." Edd hurried to say and glanced at Ed. "Continue as friends? No, I don't think so…"

…

They stepped off the bus and walked across the parking lot in silence. May, who got out of the big jeep as usual, headed to them with a wide smile at Ed. "Hey!" She squealed and threw herself around his neck. Ed seemed just as happy to see her and caught her in the air.

Eddward looked away. How could two people be so happy together? Of course, he was very happy for his friend, but he wished he could have something like that with someone... with a special someone... but he shook his head as he began to fade away, began to fantasize that he was the one who threw himself over Kevin…

Fantasies are not real; he cannot let himself escape reality like that.

It will never happen.

…

He got home from school as usual by half past four and did his usual chores around the house. When he finished he picked up his cellphone and was just about to try and call Eddy... but then he put it down again. He had tried and tried to talk to Eddy for almost three days now, but Eddy didn't do anything to keep their friendship going in return. Eddward hadn't done anything wrong; he didn't deserve this!

It may be easier said than done… but Edd persuaded himself that he was going to wait for Eddy to contact him… he didn't want to lose his friend, but he was so sick and tired of all the people around him right now. He only wanted to please everyone, but they never did anything for him, so why keep trying?

The rest of the day went by slowly, and then it was time for bed.

…

The next morning Nazz came to the bus stop at the same time as Eddward and Ed. "Still no Eddy?" she asked.

"No…" Edd replied. He felt empty; soon he wouldn't be strong enough to keep his mask on.

"Kevin is coming to school today, at least." Said Ed.

"How do you know that?" Eddward asked. He did _not_ look forward to seeing Kevin again… what if he was happy? What if he had already forgotten about Edd? The thought of Kevin being indifferent towards Edd again scared him… that couldn't happen, could it? Not after their weekend together… the small diner by the road, the walk by the docks, the movie and the beach… those were strong enough experiences for anyone to remember forever… at least for Eddward.

"Coach gave Kevin hell yesterday at practice for skipping school. He said that school was more important than the game… I've never seen him that conflicted in my life – Coach really believes in football; but he had to say that because of the responsibility as a teacher, I guess."

Double D and Nazz stared at Ed. Where did that come from? Ed talked almost… normal.

"I guess that May is a good influence on you." Said Nazz.

"She is?"

"Yes, she is." Eddward agreed.

They didn't talk about Kevin for the remainder of the bus ride, and then they hopped off the bus as usual outside the parking lot. May came running towards them just as the day before to greet Ed first and the others second.

The jeep, which stood still for a while because of other cars that were waiting to drive out from the parking lot, or waited to park, started, and Edd looked up at the driver when they came closer to it. It was him again; Cheetah. Eddward didn't know his real name, but didn't think about it too much since he didn't have anything to do with it… not anymore, anyway.

For some reason, Cheetah looked back at Edd, and his gaze reminded of something that Edd had only seen in movies. He looked angry, with a piercing look without looking away for a second. What had Edd ever done to him to deserve such a killing look?

He looked down on the ground, increased his speed, passed his friends towards the building, and felt Cheetah's eyes burning in the back of his neck.

"Edd?"

He almost ran up the stairs with Nazz behind him, and when they'd walked through the front door she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"What's going on? Please, don't run away from me like that."

Edd, who didn't want to tell her what had just happened, cleared his throat. "I thought I heard the bell..."

"I didn't hear the bell."

"You didn't? Okay… but…"

"What is it, Edd?"

"Nothing, I-"

There was a loud outbreak near the lockers further down the corridor from where Nazz and Edd stood, and they both looked annoyed to the commotion. There was only one kind of person who could make that much of a noise; and those were the jocks, especially those from the football team. Around ten guys stood in the middle of the hallway and threw a football to each other, shouting and laughing; everything to catch everyone's attention. And, of course, they succeeded; for now everyone was looking at them.

"Is that Kevin? How did he get to school today? He wasn't on the bus and I thought that he had a slashed tire."

Eddward's stomach rumbled after registering the meaning of what Nazz said. He didn't dare look, but his body did everything to try and find him; his feet stood on their toes; his back and neck stretched so that he could look over the students' heads, and his eyes were frantically looking for signs of a red cap on a ginger head.

And there was the person he was looking for. Kevin Barr acted as untamed as he had done the day before he hit Edd over his eye two weeks ago. As if someone had pushed a button to reset him and the whole school. Edd looked at the people around them; and just as he had suspected it seemed that the students avoided the football team, and above all avoided seeing Kevin in the eyes.

He was the king again - he was himself.

What happened? How did he just go back like that? This couldn't happen overnight.

Something snapped inside Eddward; while Kevin seemed to have gone back to being the school's ruler again, Edd had changed completely from being the school's victim. Something burned within him; something big.

"Edd?" Nazz asked.

He threw his backpack on his back and went straight to the group of football players, and he only had eyes for Kevin, who pushed his friends around and laughed loudly – as if it was nothing. It made Edd angry to see Kevin so happy; an outstandingly strange feeling.

"Check this out." said one of the football players, spitefully, seeing Edd wasn't able to look away from Kevin.

Kevin's face first looked a little worried; but then he put on that mask; that grin that Edd hated so much. He stood at the front of the group, and the others backed a little, all with the same malicious smiles as the first guy. They all waited for a quarrel, and Kevin would knock him down to silence him; but what they _didn't_ expect was that Eddward would go straight to Kevin, and without saying a word give him such a hard slap over his face that it echoed in the corridor.

Everyone fell quiet. Everyone. No one said a thing. The students, the football team... everyone just stared at Eddward and Kevin, and no one uttered a single sound.

Kevin immediately stopped laughing, and at last Edd saw the real Kevin he had come to know during the weekend. He looked surprised, vulnerable, and hurt; but he still didn't say anything.

Edd immediately began to yell at him: "I trusted you and you betrayed me! I told you everything, and you just stepped on me like I didn't mean anything at all! I totally ignore the fact that everyone here can hear us, and I will definitely ignore your imagined reputation! Because; you know what? In a few years that will mean nothing and you will look back at your high school years, regretting everything, feeling like a loser who only focused on being popular. Fuck you, Kevin! Fuck you!"

On shaky legs he quickly walked through the hallway. The students seemed to disperse to give him space, and when he reached the toilets he rushed in and locked himself in one of the stalls. Inside he collapsed on the toilet with his face buried in his hands. He had never been so nervous his entire life. He wasn't afraid Kevin would chase him down or anything, but he was so full of adrenaline that he didn't know what to do about it.

He had finally stood up to himself. At last he could let go of Kevin Barr.

 **Kevin**  
Kevin bluntly put his hand on his cheek where Eddward had just slapped him. His heart pounded and his head roared. He was underwater again, and didn't hear what the people around him shouted; they said something he couldn't comprehend. Slowly his hearing enhanced and he heard them laughing. They didn't laugh at Kevin, but at the situation – that; how such a small and skinny guy could hit the great Greyhound.

Kevin didn't think it was funny. Not at all. It was humiliating. And he felt ashamed – rightly so. He had it coming for him, and he felt so much shame to have hurt Edd. He _should_ be ashamed. He should be ashamed more than anyone had been ashamed in… ever! He had even had the guts to mock Edd when he headed over to Kevin with some of the football team behind him. Edd had been brave; who had given Kevin a slap and then shouted at him before he left. There is nothing the others should laugh at; they should make Eddward the school's new head, they should all kick and spit on Kevin, as the coward he is.

Cody Byrd elbowed Kevin. "Shall we look for him?" He laughed. "I think he ran into the bathroom."

"Yeah, I saw him run in there!" Said Jefferson.

"No one touches him! Do you get that!?" shouted Kevin. He wanted to threaten them more but his voice betrayed him, and he jogged toward the second exit to the football field.

He ran in underneath the bleachers and sat down on the ground, leaning against a pillar and just breathed violently. And without him being able to stop them, tears began to burn in his eyes and nose. He had no one anymore. No one.

First Edd, and then his dog. It is clear that Edd, who had become better friends with Nazz, had already told her everything. If not, she would still have witnessed it from the first parquet just after Edd had given him an echoing slap by the lockers in front of the whole school. Thus leading Nazz, as well, to hate him.

He pulled his knees up against his body and rested his forehead on them while the tears ran down his face. He felt abandoned, alone. It was nothing new, but this time he had done it to himself – purposely. This was exactly what he wanted; he wanted Edd to be mad at him, then it would be easier for him to get rid of his feelings for Kevin... as he must've done by _now_. Was Kevin better off? Not really... but Edd deserved someone better, and now he was so mad that he would never take Kevin back; even if he begged on his bare knees... which was the whole plan from the beginning. That Edd wouldn't be able to take him back, that is.

His cellphone rang in his jeans pocket. He picked it up and looked at the display. It was James. Good. Then maybe James could pick him up and take him away from school. Anything was better than this. The coward inside him spoke, per usual.

But just as he was going to pick up the phone, he heard a voice a few feet away from him: "Are you also skipping classes?"

Kevin hung up and put the cell back in his pocket. He looked up. It was Jonny Grove with his pink and blue hair, piercings and grungy and ripped clothes standing in front of him.

"Leave me alone." Kevin muttered and hid his face again.

But Jonny didn't leave him, but squatted down in front of him. "Has something happened?"

Kevin looked up again, straining his eyes into Jonny's. "I said; leave me alone! Go away!"

Jonny chuckled. "Does it have to do with Eddward Vincent? Or with James Hyde?"

Kevin didn't know what to do, but the anger took over the surprise and he threw his fist against Jonny who fell backwards to avoid a blow to the chest. He laughed. "Calm down! I'm on your side, Barr. We are both weeds from the same garden, you and I."

"How in hell are we the same?!" snorted Kevin. "We are nothing alike."

"We are both outlaws. We don't feel that we fit in with the rest of the mob. And we are both here, right? "

"That says nothing about who we are as people. Now; go. Leave me alone, I said. "

"I can help you."

"Help me with what?"

Jonny, who seemed happy to finally have caught Kevin's attention, settled in front of him again underneath the bleachers. "Getting rid of Cheetah, of course. Personally; if I had to choose between an angel and the devil; I wouldn't choose the one who wanted to see me dead."

Kevin stared at him with half open mouth. "Do you mean you'd kill him?" He asked with a slight sarcasm in his voice.

"I never said that. I said we would _get rid of him,_ but I never said anything about killing anyone. That is not my plan!" He said a little louder, as if someone was listening to them.

"Keep your voice down!" Kevin wheezed. "Do you think someone is here?"

Jonny shrugged. "You never know. But-"

"And secondly," Kevin cut him off, "why would I take any help from you?"

"Because I owe you." Said Jonny in a serious tone on his voice.

"Owe me?"

"You know that I could've done something to help you back in our freshman years. But I did nothing about it. I didn't even tell a grown up."

"What game are you playing, Grove?"

"I'm trying to redeem myself, Barr. Let me have this. Let me help you."

"How?"

Jonny was just about to say something, but was cut off by another voice.

"Kevin?" Nazz walked around the bleachers on the outside, looking for him.

"I was never here." Jonny said quickly, slipped between the pillars deeper into the darkness beneath the bleachers, and disappeared.

One second later Nazz climbed in from the other direction, spotted Kevin and proceeded crouching towards him. "There you are. I saw that you went over here." She sat in front of him, where Jonny had just been sitting a few seconds earlier. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Kevin replied quickly, trying to shake off the conspiracy that Jonny had just tried to pull him into. It was just pure fantasies trying to get rid of James... He was just about to tell Nazz that Jonny had been here a few seconds before her, but remembered that she was going tell him about her feelings, and thought of dissuading her from it since Jonny seemed to be crazy or something. But she interrupted his messy web of thoughts.

"I saw what happened. What, I thought you and Edd would get together?"

Kevin fumed. "Don't you interfere in stuff you don't understand."

"So tell me then!" Nazz said angrily. Kevin jumped; he wasn't prepared on her to raise her voice like that. "I can't believe I was trying to defend you yesterday! Double D was really sad, and who the hell is that Jim that you apparently have been with behind both his and my backs?"

"Did Edd tell you that?" he started sweating as he scratched the back of his head underneath his baseball cap.

"What does it matter? Is it true or not?"

Kevin felt how he began to shake. He had painted himself into a corner and he grasped that fact more than ever now. There was nothing he could say to save his own ass this time; he was caught and now he had to man up for what he had done. He bit himself in his lip while trying to find a way to tell the whole truth to her, and didn't notice that those embarrassing tears had begun to reveal him instead.

Nazz sighed when she saw the sincerity in his eyes. "Why?" She whispered. "I can see it on your face how much this hurts you as well."

Kevin shrugged. "I don't know." He muttered exhausted. "I don't know what's happening. I... he..." he felt the panic and fear filling him while trying to formulate the words on his tongue. But nothing came out; as if something prevented him from spilling a single syllable about his and James Hyde's harmful and directly lethal relationship.

Kevin gave up. It was just as good that he let everything be. If something happened to him... it would serve him right, and he would put an end to everything. James Hyde could just as well try to kill him again... and succeed this time.

"Kevin? You can talk to me. Please?" Nazz scooted closer. "You're not even happy, so why do you do this? Who is Jim?" Kevin continued shaking his head. "Kevin... is he hurting you?"

How could she understand so much? How could she read all of this by just looking at his body language? True, he probably looked scared... But Kevin just shook his head again. "It's nothing. It's okay. I swear." He lied.

"Will you introduce me to him?"

"No."

Nazz's face turned red. "You should talk to Double D. I'll look him up and see how he's doing." She got up and looked angrily at Kevin. "You should be ashamed of yourself." She stormed out of there.

"I already am..." Kevin muttered when she was out of reach.

He got up and followed her back to school. The damage was already done; it couldn't get any worse now.

But it did.

He was a nerve wreck the rest of the school day; couldn't focus on anything, only where to go after school ends. The night before last night, he called Byrd and urgently asked if he could crash at his house. Byrd had picked Kevin up at the cul-de-sac and let Kevin sleep on his floor, and last night… Kevin actually called James and hoped that he could open his apartment or whatever he lived in for him. And James did take Kevin for a ride… but only to the junkyard where he-

He couldn't even think about it; but the scathing, deepest cut yet on his back constantly reminded him about it.

And then he drove Kevin back to the cul-de-sac. He couldn't go home… his father was waiting for him to come home so that he could punish him for ripping the wardrobe off the wall… and now they knew he went to school… he couldn't hide, and it stressed him to the brim of losing it.

While being stressed about trying to figure out where he was going tonight, he tried to fill his head with just that; because as soon as he stopped thinking about sleeping places he started thinking about Eddward instead. His otherwise so happy blue eyes had been shiny and completely dead when they looked at Kevin this morning... the grief... the pain... he couldn't stop thinking about it and the memory hurt him more than any cut on his body had ever done.

He didn't go back to school after lunch; he'd seen his mom's car on the parking lot and booked it towards the football field. Now he planned to just live here underneath the bleachers.

…

The school bell rang eventually at the end of the day, and Kevin spotted Ed Hill walking alone to the parking lot and bus stop. He caught up on him and asked him about the other two.

"Eddy is sick and Double D went home earlier. Something about getting sick as well."

"When was that?" Kevin whispered, afraid that anyone would notice him or that his mother was still on the premise. He had never felt more paranoid.

"Two and a half hours ago, maybe? I have his homework with me. We're going to study."

They talked distractedly about the game that would be on Saturday, and the practice they'd had yesterday, before Ed got Kevin's anxiety to flare up again:

"I was actually going to see a movie with May tonight, but Double D really wanted us to study. His parents took the night shift so we will be-"

"How are you and May doing? Are you still dating or are you boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Kevin tried to make him to talk about anything else than Eddward.

"How do you know that?"

"I don't know... maybe you... ask?"

"Oh... then I'll ask her the next time I see her."

"Do that, Hill."

While the bus was driving out of the forest towards the school's area, a dark red van drove by it like a maniac. Kevin realized that he was going with James today... but the conversation with Jonny and Nazz this morning underneath the bleachers had made him see everything from a different perspective... as if he had never really thought about anything before, only let everything depend. He _could_ control his own life. No one else did.

"Did you say that Edd's parents are working the night shift?"

"Yeah. They are." Ed replied.

"Okay. I'll take the bus with you." Kevin followed Ed towards the bus stop, and without even glancing at the parking lot, he hopped on the bus and sat down with banging heart next to Ed. He still didn't dare to look out the window when the bus drove off, but knew that James followed them hot on their heels.

Kevin tried to hold a normal conversation with Ed all the way through the forest, past the town and on to Peach Creek's cul-de-sac, but was nervous all the way about what would happen when the bus stopped.

Eventually It did, and they stepped off of it. Kevin had convinced Ed that he had to see May today, and ask if she wanted to be his girlfriend, while as soon as the bus opened the doors; he pushed through the bushes with Edd's homework in front of him to shield his face from the thorns, and ran the rest of the way to Edd's house.

The red van drove off; James had missed him.

Kevin stopped outside Edd's door with raised heart beat and knocked on the door, and eventually Eddward actually opened it, believing that it was Ed standing there. He looked surprised when he saw that it was Kevin.

Kevin smiled. "You were right. I only cared about my reputation and status but I don't want to be that person anymore. I want to be happy and the only way for that to become reality is to be true to myself. I will tell you everything, and I want to be honest with you. I'm so sorry for hurting you; I owe you my whole life. I don't know what I'm doing or how to do this, but I need you. I need you in my life, and I'm gonna bust my ass to make you happy." he said breathlessly.

But before Eddward closed the door on him, Kevin took a big step towards the doorway and pulled Edd closer to him. He held one hand on his cheek and the other on his back, and then kissed Edd.

Edd, who had previously been stiff as a stick, seemed to collapse like jelly in Kevin's arms. He melted into the kiss and held Kevin tight. He let go of Kevin just to look at him, as if he thought this was just a dream. "Come", he said as his beautiful sapphire eyes fluttered between Kevin's, and pulled him into the house.

Kevin closed and locked the door and followed, while Edd led him up the stairs, into his bedroom and pulled him down on his bed.


	17. Sacrifice

Comment from **Guest** : Thank you for reading! :) I hope this first part will satisfy your excitement a little bit ^^

New follower: **Alewar**

 **Agoodreader** : You were right; the chapter was just getting longer and longer so I had to divide it into at least two parts; maybe even three, since I still haven't finished it!

* * *

For this chapter I would like to put a **reader discretion is adviced** warning. It gets kinda violent by the end of this part and I want to warn especially victims of sexual abuse and harrassment. Do not read this part if you are under 14 or sensitive to violence, guns and/or sexual assault.

I don't know if I should change the rating to **M** from now on or not... Maybe someone could comment on that, because I'm not sure.

* * *

 **Sacrifice**

 **Kevin**  
He couldn't comprehend how he'd missed this; that how happy two people can make one another. Although he had been in love with Nazz once and later thought he would spend his life with James; but this time it was different, it was stronger, because now it was mutual. The slightest feather-light touch made small bumps spread on Kevin's skin beneath Edwards's fingers, as if he were pulling a magnet against it and Kevin had the magnet's counterpart under his skin. He looked at Edwards's arm and saw that his skin made small goose bumps when Kevin touched him as well, and then they looked into each other's eyes where they were lying in Edd's bed.

He smiled at Kevin and sighed.

"What?" whispered Kevin.

"No, nothing." Edd whispered back, he glanced at the window where he had drawn the curtains one and a half hours ago, darkened the room but also to hide them from the outside, and bit his lip when he looked back at Kevin . "You're just... With you next to me..." he shook his head, couldn't say anything.

"I know." Kevin said. "I also think it's pretty unbelievable actually." He looked down at Edd's naked waist and felt those butterflies fluttering again. He couldn't get enough of him, but at the same time didn't want to behave like an animal around Edd - something he had done for an hour and a half already... and Edd hadn't minded it then.

It had only been a little over an hour and a half since Edd decided to put all old grudge aside and forgive Kevin. They had both unleashed their inhibitions and spent all this time with each other at Edd's room openly, honest; as if they had known each other their entire lives - but that was almost true on the other hand; but just not like this. Just a few weeks ago, Kevin would've never suspected Edd as gay; or that they would come together as close as they had now. Heck, Kevin was probably the one who had come closest to Eddward Vincent of all the people on earth except possibly his mother when he was a baby. It was just such a strange feeling to see Edd this way; with blushing cheeks and so vulnerable; but who still trusted Kevin so much that he dared to show himself... without clothes and his hat.

They continued to look at each other for a few minutes, and then Edd pursed his lips, looked a little serious. "Are you hungry?"

"Does that mean we're done here?" Kevin joked. Edd was about to protest, but was interrupted: "I know; you want to know a thing or two - I would have too if I were you. Now that we… know each other a little better, it's probably good to put everything on the table and come clean."

Edd just nodded as if he didn't really want to have a serious talk, but understood that it was necessary if they wanted to continue seeing each other.

Kevin pulled off the blanket and got up from the bed to dress, but was careful not to show Edd his back. Eddward had already reacted to the fresh wound on his chest which had begun to heal; but since Kevin didn't want to interrupt their reunion (at that point he had already gotten Edd his pants off), he blamed on an accident on the football field the day before. He had promised Edd that he would be honest from _now_ on… so why tell something that had happened a few days ago? He would certainly want to know what had happened to Kevin's back if he saw the cut.

They both had put on their clothes and were now sitting on the edge of the bed together. Edd was silent, waiting for Kevin to start talking instead of asking questions, so the only thing Kevin could do now was to ... start. None of them seemed to be particularly keen on food, even though it had to be six in the evening, and the last time they ate were at lunch at school.

He took a deep breath, and talked without looking at Edd. "It all actually began during the summer break, before freshman year at Peach Creek High. I don't know _what_ was going on in my head, but I started to fall into some kind of depression. Everyone traveled, we were going to start a new school, and I began to deliberately push all of you away from me... because it never really felt that I fit in." he came to think of what Jonny said about being two weeds from the same garden that day, but shook his head in an attempt to forget about it. "So the first day at school arrived," Kevin continued. "I sat on the bus with Nazz and Jonny, but I sat far from them to avoid talking to them, and the same moment we came inside the school area I was jumped by this gang of football players. You already know who they were…"

"Cheetah and his friends." Edd said.

Kevin nodded. "For some reason he chose me, as if I was the cool new toy in the area; just because I could put up some resistance. And after a month of constant harassment, when I had given up on standing up for myself, I… "suddenly he got a lump in his stomach and started sweating.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Why are you hitting yourself, huh, tough guy?" said Cheetah as he was hitting Kevin with his own hand.

"Cheetah!" shouted another guy from the football team down the corridor. "Coach is coming!"

Cheetah let go of Kevin. "See you after school, Pumpkin."

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

"He, uh ... promised me that, uh ..." it was as if his tongue swelled to double size, and it felt like he couldn't breathe.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"Everybody needs to fend for themselves on this school." Said Cheetah in the janitors' passage. "I have no friends – those people you see me with every damn day? They're nothing! They're like sharks – they smell one drop of blood miles away, and if only one shark in the group stays behind instead of hunting with them; they'll kill that shark. Kevin, that shark is me. I have to hunt with them, or else they kill me."

"I thought that you were the leader?" Kevin forgot everything about being cautious, but he was lucky this time.

"I'm just the face outwards. I am the leader because I'm the captain, and I'm good looking. That's why they chose me; it doesn't mean that I'm the king in the group because of that; we just make people think that I am."

Kevin glanced behind him – someone must be sneaking up on him. This was just a prank, a scam, a trap; Cheetah and his followers would soon be beating him again like always, the others were just hiding. But it was silent and empty in the corridor behind him and behind Cheetah.

"It's only us, Kevin." Cheetah said as if he read his mind. "Look; from now on, I promise I won't hurt you for real. If you just give me a chance to prove to you that I'm not like them; then I won't tell anyone that you know the truth either. I swear that I will be the one always ' _beating you up_ ', but I won't do it for real. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal." said Kevin.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

Kevin laughed nervously. "What changed my mind and made me-" he coughed, his eyes watering up.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

"There you are. We've been waiting for you, tough guy." Said Cheetah with a big smile on his face.

He headed towards Kevin and quickly grabbed the front of Kevin's shirt, and he yanked him up as if he was as light as a feather. Kevin knew that he wasn't going to be nicer to him – that promise had just been a lie – psyche him into believing that he could stand a chance against them.

"We're going to have so much fun." Cheetah mumbled with a crooked smile, his face only five inches from Kevin's. "Boys, I'm going to need to teach Barr a lesson he won't be forgetting any time soon. Please, don't follow us."

His friends scoffed and laughed as Cheetah carried Kevin towards the toilets; he had done this several times before, so it wasn't new to Kevin what was going to happen.

"Let me go!" Kevin yelled anyway and tried to kick himself out of Cheetah's grip.

He was dropped on the ground, only to have Cheetah forcefully turn Kevin around and grab him from behind with his arms glued to his body. He was lifted again, but this time he didn't have the strength to kick Cheetah a second time; he just couldn't reach that way. The toilets were getting closer.

"Hey! Stop!" Kevin cried as his bully kicked the door open to the boys' toilets. "Let me go!"

"Scram." Cheetah told some sophomore years by the urinals. They quickly zipped up their pants and left the room without hesitating. "And you-" Cheetah put Kevin down, turned him around, but kept holding his arms in a firm grip between his giant hands. "Stop squirming! I promised I wouldn't beat you up anymore. Remember?"

Kevin finally stopped fighting him and just stared into his eyes. "Aren't you going to flush my head in the toilet?"

"No." said Cheetah and shrugged. "I always keep my promises; that's something you should learn about me."

"But your team mates… they're waiting by the lockers. Aren't they going to realize something's wrong when I leave this toilet with dry hair?"

"That's easy to fix." Cheetah chuckled, went over to the sinks and turned one of them on. "Heads up!" he suddenly shouted and playfully threw a hand full of water at Kevin.

Kevin parried, and the water hit the stall door behind him.

"You're fast." Cheetah sounded impressed. "But I guess that's my fault actually; chasing you around these corridors." He filled his hands again and walked up to Kevin. "But if you want them to believe that I flushed your head in the toilet; your hair needs to be wet."

Kevin sighed. "Okay." He took his cap off and let Cheetah pour the water over Kevin's head; and as if he wanted to show him that he wasn't going to hurt him anymore; he gently patted the top of Kevin's head to spread the water around.

"Oh, sorry…" he whispered when a stream of water ran down Kevin's forehead. He gently wiped Kevin's eyebrow with his thumb before the water got in his eye.

"No, it's fine…" Kevin mumbled while watching his shoes. This was really awkward and he didn't know what to do. He looked up, just to see what the bully did, and when their eyes met they both stopped breathing for a moment.

What was happening?

A strange feeling filled Kevin while his stomach was buzzing as he looked into the football captain's brown eyes. Suddenly, James; which he had found out was the bully's name; had changed into something that Kevin thought he could trust. He was actually kind; it was as if he were mean only around the others from the football team... as if he _had_ to; was forced to.

When James left the toilets, Kevin waited a while before going out, and as he walked out, he looked down the corridor where James and his friends stood. They all laughed and James made a fake attack against Kevin. He started running, but soon discovered that he wasn't followed. James had kept his word.

…

That night, someone knocked on Kevin's bedroom window. His parents had already gone to bed, and their bedroom was on the other side of the house, so they wouldn't notice anything. Kevin walked up to his half-open window and pulled the curtain aside, thinking he would only see one of the kids in the neighborhood; but had not expected to face his bully.

Kevin couldn't say a word, but just stared with a banging heart.

"Hi..." said James, tentative." I know this looks a little... strange but... I have thought a lot today, about you and stuff..." he laughed nervously and pulled his long hair back; he didn't wear his usual beanie tonight. "I'm just going to put it all out there... I think I felt something today; and I think you did too. This is completely new to me... do you understand what I mean or am I completely out and about?"

Kevin, who understood exactly what James meant, took a deep, trembling breath. He was also nervous, but at the same time longed for someone to talk to about this new feeling. And who wasn't better than the one he felt it for? "I think so..." mumbled Kevin. He was considering whether he would just close the window or if he would... he was too nervous just thinking about letting him into his bedroom.

"Can I come in so that we can... talk?" James wondered. He must have noticed on Kevin's facial expression how uncomfortable he felt about that, so he changed his plans. "Otherwise we can take a walk? Please, I need to talk to someone about this, and it's you I need to talk to."

Kevin decided to go with James for a walk; it wouldn't be too bad, would it? So he jumped out of the window - he hadn't switched from his jogging pants and hooded sweater into pajamas yet - and followed James down the street. That was the problem with Kevin at this age... he trusted too much, and clearly he could trust another student on his school that was much older.

What was the worst thing that could happen?

That night was the first time Kevin kissed James, it was the first time he kissed anyone at all, and he fell hard for the eighteenth year old...

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

"Kevin, are you okay?" Edd sounded anxious, put a hand on his shoulder but had probably not counted on Kevin's reaction.

It was as if his eyes blackened, because when Kevin felt Edd's hand on his shoulder, he suddenly thought it was James, and when something flashed in his brain, he grabbed Edd's fingers and pried them upwards.

Edd screamed, and Kevin immediately released him. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! I don't know what happened!" Kevin said. He got up, backed away from the bed, deeper into the room, scratching his face. "There was something I- I thought about it, and -" he burped, as if he were about to throw up.

"Kevin, calm down." Edd approached him slowly and looked straight into his eyes. "You're having a panic attack. It's just me, calm down... we're in my bedroom, you're safe here."

Kevin hyperventilated, but noticed that Eddward actually calmed him. "Thank you," he whispered. "I will proceed, but you can't touch me again; I don't know what I can do."

"You don't have to tell that part." Edd assured him. He backed towards the bed again after making sure that Kevin was okay. "I know something awful happened to you, I see how hard it is for you to talk about it, you don't have to say it today."

"But I _do_ have to." Kevin replied almost hysterically. "You _have_ to know. Otherwise, I might as well go out to the woods and hang myself. I need a change; and I know it starts here." Edd was going to say something but Kevin held up his hand to silence him. "I don't mean to put all the responsibility in your hands; I just mean that I have to tell this to someone, and I want you to be the one to know."

Edd sat down on the bed again, nodding stiffly as if to ready himself before what he was going to hear. He understood that there would be something very serious; something that the police would have dealt with long ago; so he looked to swallow all his anxiety to listen respectfully without being panicked. "Please, proceed."

Kevin sat down on his desk chair. He turned the chair back and forth, trying to figure out how to continue. "I don't know if you already know this; but his real name is James Hyde..." he silenced again and shook his head, couldn't understand that he was actually sitting there and was actually about to tell Edd everything, but he proceeded; "After about a month, it turned out that James had chosen me because he was... attracted to me. Don't say anything." Edd stared at Kevin with wide eyes, clenching his lips. "I know; he was eighteen years old and I was only fourteen, so I fell for everything he told me. He manipulated me to believe that we had a normal relationship when he actually..." Kevin took a deep, shaky breath, felt his head roar and how his eyes were watering again.

.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _flashback_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

A month after their first kiss, James nagged Kevin to satisfy his needs; to still his hunger. He hadn't been tough on Kevin - yet - but he mostly nagged and soon started to threaten him. Everything was so lengthy that Kevin didn't see the warning signals in time. He didn't understand that he was entitled to his own body; he thought this was how it all worked. James had started threatening to be with others, or even to break up if Kevin didn't agree to have sex with him, and Kevin thought the only thing was to give him what he wanted.

That night; James had persuaded him in the boys' bathroom at school the same day; James came over and knocked as usual on Kevin's window. He opened and let him in, and James - who had been promised Kevin's innocence - began to kiss him and touch him the moment he came into the room. Kevin; who didn't dare to say anything anymore; let him. He hadn't had a person like this close to him throughout his life; he had never had anyone who actually wanted him this way... and he didn't want to lose that. Because he loved James, and James loved him.

At least that was what he talked himself into believing.

;~*~=_=`~*~'=;=~**~==_==`~~**~~'=;=~*~ _*~*~*~*~*_ ~*~=;=`~~**~~'==_==~**~=;=`~*~'=_=~*~;

.

His whole body rebelled, but he knew that if he could only acknowledge this for himself, once and for all, and said it out loud; then he would finally be able to forget it and move on with his life.

"In fact," Kevin cringed and pressed his knuckles against his eyes, "he raped me. Because I know... I know I really didn't want it; I was forced to, and sometimes even with violence... he could threaten me, hurt me..." tears ran down his face, but Kevin continued as he looked down on the floor: "I thought he did it because he loved me; because he said he did; that he couldn't control himself because he just wanted to be with me. He got into a relationship with some girl so that no one would suspect him... at the same time he continued to harass me in front of people, and I let him; because I believed in him when he said he was compelled to; otherwise he would get his football scholarship deducted... you can't play football and at the same time be fag, according to him."

Kevin paused for a second to wipe his face, to recover. He couldn't believe he was actually sitting here talking openly about his greatest secret with someone. And Edd was good at listening; Kevin didn't see what he was doing or what he looked like right now; but at least he didn't interrupt Kevin.

He continued. "This was going on for several months. James bullied me during the days while his girlfriend watched, and then he came home to me at night. My parents never noticed that an adult man climbed through their teen's window every night, usually affected by either alcohol or drugs, sometimes both; but nobody did, because then they'd have called the police. Every night I let him in - partly because I thought it was genuine love, and partly because it had begun to grow some kind of fear for him within me. I couldn't pinpoint what it was - I still can't - but I was too scared to say something... I was smaller than him _then_ , but-"

Kevin interrupted himself; he was not ready to tell Edd that he had started seeing James again; and by the way, it felt different this time. Clearly he dared to talk about something that happened several years ago... but not something that happened last time yesterday.

 _Incredible_ , Kevin thought to himself, _you are still a fucking coward. Just tell him! Tell him! It's now or never!_

"He, uhm..." Kevin tried to get back to the story. "I thought he would murder me if I tried to leave him - but he also said that he would several times... every time we fought, he either threatened to kill me or commit suicide... I was so fucking stupid." At last the penny dropped - finally! It wasn't as if this was news to him; deep inside he had always known; but now it was the first time he said it out loud and in turn acknowledged it for himself. He hit himself in his forehead with his knuckles. "That's why he almost killed me three years ago - I tried to leave him, thinking I had a chance against him! He said he was high; and that he did it because he didn't want to lose me; but that's no excuse! And it wasn't even true! He lied to me! And I was so stupid that I fell for it!" Kevin stopped what he was doing only to start hitting himself in his face again – of course! Of course it was him; it could only have been James who had slashed Kevin's tire last Wednesday!

He must have seen Kevin's bag full of football gear that morning, and knew that he had practice after school. So as everyone entered the building, he slashed the tire on Kevin's bike and then waited for his practice to end; and he drove up and down the road, waiting for Kevin to lead his bike, and realize that it was going to be a long way home-

"Stop." Edd said quietly, and Kevin looked at him for the first time since he sat down on the office chair. Tears ran down Edd's cheeks. He had cried throughout Kevin's story, but hadn't said anything or made any sound to let Kevin finish talking.

"I'm sorry." whispered Kevin. He was considering whether to stop talking, just to protect Edd - who looked more distraught than Kevin actually felt even though he could have shot himself if he only had had a gun. But Edd didn't deserve this pain Kevin had to deal with every day. It wasn't his to handle.

What was he thinking? What happened to letting Edd live his life peacefully; that he deserved better? How could he suddenly become this selfish and drag Edd into this mess?  
"Sorry..." Kevin said again, more seriously. "I'm sorry." He got up and started walking toward the door; was about to go back to the starting plan which was to leave Edd alone and take care of his own problems.

But just then, the tires of a car screeched against the asphalt in the neighborhood, right outside Edd's bedroom window; somewhere between his and Kevin's houses. The person sitting in the car seemed to put all his weight on the horn, the sound really kept on going - then he aggressively punched the steering wheel several times.

Kevin and Edd stared at each other, then they got up to Edd's bedroom window, pulled the curtains apart and looked out on the street.

It was the dark red van - James must know that Kevin was inside.

The honking came to an end but the engine was still running, and at the same time they looked out, Kevin's cellphone vibrated; a text message. He picked up his phone from his pocket and read the text with his heart in his throat.

 _If you don't come out in 30 seconds I will go in there and get you, and I will not be nice to your twink._

Kevin looked out again. Since the van was facing the exit on the cul-de-sac, he could only see the empty passenger seat, and there was also James' hand; turning a dark object that looked like... it couldn't be...

He hadn't left the cul-de-sac because he'd mistaken on Kevin taking the bus earlier today. In fact, he _had_ seen Kevin, watched him run towards Edd's house... and then he had gone somewhere to get a-

"Kevin, isn't that Jim?" Edd asked, recognizing the van on the street. "Is that a gun? Kevin, was he the one who sent the text just now?"

Kevin shook his head. Edd looked more sad than panicked; he didn't know it was James out there; he only knew _Jim_ as "Kevin's second boyfriend", and he _could_ be mistaking the gun as something else – but Kevin knew. He knew he had to think fast; James wasn't joking around. He had been close to killing before - and if Kevin knew him well enough there was a 99 percent chance that he would actually break into the house and-

"Stay here." Kevin said to Edd, opened the bedroom door and quickly went for the stairs.

But Edd wasn't going to let him go. "Kevin? Stay! "He got hold of Kevin's shirt before they were halfway down the stairs, but Kevin just shook his hand off and jumped down the last steps. He rushed through the hall with Edd close behind, and when he unlocked the door, Edd grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?! Are you mad?! He has a gun! Don't go out there!" apparently he'd decided that what he saw was true and not an illusion.

"Let go of me, Edd." Kevin murmured. He couldn't allow him to follow, but at the same time it was too dangerous for him if Kevin stayed in the house for too long. Time was short; he had never had to hurry this much in his life.

He finally got the door open, but Edd kept grabbing everything he could on Kevin. "Stop! Don't go!" He grabbed the back of Kevin's shirt, and at the same time he accidentally dragged his fingernails over the fresh cut James had made on his back last night.

Kevin bended backwards from the pain; it made him lose a bit of speed; and it made Edd finally understand something.

"What was that?" He asked. He tried to lift Kevin's shirt in the middle of the driveway.

James started punching the wheel again. "Piss off!" Kevin shouted.

"Let me see."

They began to wrestle while Kevin tried to turn around, didn't let Eddward fall behind him. "Edd, I warn you! Go inside!"

But somehow Edd managed to lift Kevin's t-shirt and got a glimpse of the wound he had underneath. "A new cut..." Edd whispered.

Kevin corrected his shirt and turned to look into Edd's blue eyes; trying to catch his breath. "I'm serious. Go. Inside. Now." He began to feel helpless. How could Edd not see the seriousness in this situation?

"Have you started cutting yourself again?"

Kevin immediately became defensive. "I have _never_ cut myself." He growled.

"But how..." Finally Edd realized. He looked at the van with his eyebrows pulled down. He understood that James must be the one who cut Kevin; both now and about three years ago – like some kind of unexplainable fetish. "James... Jim... Kevin, is that James Hyde?"

"Enough."

"Is that Cheetah? Is Jim Cheetah?"

"I said; drop it!" Kevin shouted.

Edd's eyes became shiny. "You're seeing him again. Is he the one who's been doing this to you? Has it always been him who's been hurting you?"

"Listen to me, Edd." Kevin tried to sound angry. "Go into the house. You must forget about me. Don't you understand that he'll kill you? He'll kill both of us if you don't go into the house. Now."

The door to the van opened and James stepped out. He just stared at Kevin; that look that Kevin had always been afraid of.

"Kevin, come with me." Edd grabbed Kevin's arm and began pulling it. "Kevin, come on; we'll call the police!"

"Let go."

"I can protect you!"

"I said, let me go!" as Kevin shrugged off Edd's hands, he saw Edd try to come back at him again - he was not going to give up. At the same time he heard steps behind him approaching them. James played no games, and Kevin knew that both his and especially Edd's life was in danger. "I'm sorry, Eddward. Forgive me."

He grabbed Edd's ski hat and pulled it over his eyes, and then he hit him in his stomach with his fist. Edd fell to the ground where he rolled around and whimpered; tried to breathe. But Kevin didn't have time anymore; he turned around and glued on a fake smile when looking at James, but still with scared, glossy eyes.

James, who was just a few feet away from Kevin - with the gun in his hand, which he put down in his pocket, just looked angrily at Kevin. "You won't get away with this that easily. Get inside the car!" He grabbed Kevin's neck when he came close and pushed him towards the car, and when they both got inside, James picked up the gun again and pressed it to Kevin's cheek. "I COULD KILL YOU, DO YOU GET IT?! KILL YOU! HOW DARE YOU FUCK THAT LITTLE SHRIMP BEHIND MY BACK?!" Kevin just sat there with his eyes closed and dared not say anything. He once again felt the tears flowing down his face, every muscle in his body shaking. "I SHOULD SHOOT YOU BOTH IN THE HEAD! YOU GOT THAT?!" James pushed Kevin's face with the gun one last time before putting it down on his lap and drove from the cul-de-sac. "You will regret what you did to me today. This will be the last time you humiliate me like that."


	18. The lucky kiss

As I said last time: this "finale" was getting longer than I first suspected, so this will not be the last chapter either... maybe the next one will! But that's only good, right?

Replies on your comments:  
 **Gam08** : Una vez más, gracias por leer! Y usted tiene razón; Se estaba convirtiendo en un final de tres partes. Ahora sostenga firmemente su sombrero, aquí viene la "parte 2 de 3"!  
 **Guest** : This wasn't meant to be angst either but I just couldn't resist it! I will try my hardest to finish this story, even though I have a 7 month old baby and will start school soon again; I WILL END THIS.  
 **Agoodreader** : Maybe I will answer one of those questions in this chapter ;) Love your comments and inputs! Thank you :)  
 **Shelly** : :)

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* * *

 **The lucky kiss**

 **Eddward**  
Edd tore off his hat when the worst of the pain subsided, and when he finally got enough power to get up, the van drove off. "Kevin! Wait! "He shouted and ran out to the road.

He chased the car as far as he could before the muscles gave way and he fell down on his knees in the middle of the road. He broke down. What was going to happen to Kevin now? He was in danger and Edd couldn't do anything to save him; he couldn't outrun a car.

He should have tried more, he should have held harder onto Kevin while they were in the house, he should have hung in his neck if it had helped. But now Cheetah, or Jim, or James Hyde would kill him - and everything was Edd's fault.

A car drove out from the cul-de-sac and slowed down right behind Edd. It probably had to pass him, but Edd didn't find the muscles or the will that would make him stand up and go out of the way; it simply was none.

But a familiar voice brought him out of the trance he was in: "Get into the car, Sockhead!"

"Eddy?" Edd turned around and saw one of his best friends stick out his head through the open window at the driver's seat in his old jalopy.

"Hurry, we can still catch up with them!"

"Oh, Eddy!" Edd cried out of joy, jumped up on his feet, ran toward the car and jumped into the passenger seat. "You can't even imagine how happy I am to see you!"

"You're my best friend, Edd, of course I'm doing this for you."

Just as he closed the door and was going to put on his seat belt, the door to the back seat opened.

"Nathalie?" Edd and Eddy said in unison.

"I saw that he got into a dark van with some mysterious guy." She looked angry. "Was that Jim? Screw it; let's kick the shit out of Kevin. Drive, Eddy!"

"No, you're misunderstanding everything!" Edd turned to look at Nazz after he had buckled his seat belt, and Eddy drove. "Well yeah, that was Jim, but it was also James Hyde - Cheetah."

Nazz gasped and Eddy shouted "WHAT?!"

Edd continued, "Apparently they had a secret relationship when Kevin was fourteen, and James Hyde was eighteen. But it wasn't really a relationship, but Kevin thought so - that's why Kevin changed and started to behave strangely; it's like some case of the Stockholm syndrome, which was later developed into PTSD."

"He was groomed?" Nazz asked with her hands in front of her mouth.

"Yes, exactly; manipulated."

"So we are chasing a predator right now instead of calling the cops, because..?" Eddy asked. He made a sharp turn out of the city toward the forest; they hadn't seen the van yet but it was the only way they could have taken.

"Because the police cannot do anything right now, and we don't know where Hyde is going. But there's one thing I do know; and that is if we don't save Kevin now, then Hyde will kill him."

It was quiet in the car for a few seconds, only the engine was heard; and Eddy sped up a little extra on the straight road before he slowed down to turn towards a smaller dirt road into the forest. "He can only have gone in here; otherwise we would have seen the van on the straight road."

Edd suddenly realized what kind of mess he was getting his friends into. How could he let this happen? "As soon as we see them again, you stop and let Nazz out of the car, Eddy."

"What?!" she shouted in the back seat.

"Why?" Eddy asked.

"This is too dangerous. James Hyde is dangerous. And right now it's between me, and him... and Kevin. I don't want to risk you being hurt, therefore I want you to turn around as soon as they have stopped, Eddy, and I'll take over from there."

"You have to be kidding me!" Nazz said angry. "You know Kevin is my friend too, right?"

"And I come with you, Sockhead." Eddy calmly said, but sped up on the muddy, bumpy dirt road. "I owe it to you."

"But-" Edd started, but was distracted by the sight of Hyde's van.

"They're going towards the junkyard!" Said Nazz. "Now we have them!"

"Do we even have a plan on what to do when we get out of the car?" Asked Edd, who once again wondered how he could drag in his friends into this.

"No time, they've stopped." Eddy said, looking straight through the windshield with a serious face.

James Hyde stepped out of the dark red van just inside the gates of the junkyard. He slammed the driver's door with a loud bang, walked around the car to the passenger side, opened the door and pulled out Kevin in the collar of his shirt. Kevin rolled out and landed on his back in the mud; didn't seem to dare to resist.

It pained Edd to see Kevin Barr like this; so vulnerable and helpless. Had it been two weeks ago he hadn't believed his own eyes; how can the school's biggest bully, Peach Creek High's football captain and king be so weak in relation to a single person - who was also shorter than him. James Hyde looked to have been working out and expanding his arm muscles in prison, but Edd knew that if Kevin hadn't had a mental block he would win a fight against Hyde, no doubt.

Nazz was the one who opened her door first and went out to confront him. "Leave him alone!" she yelled at Hyde.

"Nathalie!" Eddward jumped out of the car and grabbed her to stop her, and Eddy got out as well to join his friends. Edd suddenly remembered the object Hyde had played with in the passenger's seat while his van was parked outside Edd's house. "He has a-"

"Let me go, Double D! I'll punch him! I'm not afraid of you, _Cheetah_! You're a cowardly bastard who takes advantage of a minor like that! You pedophile! You fucking child molest-"

A gunshot echoed through the area. Nazz squealed and fell backwards by the shock, but no one had been hit. Hyde had pointed the gun at Eddy's car and shot the left front tire; only a couple of feet from Eddy's leg. Air starting escaping the tire.

"Back to Kevin." He said darkly. "What makes you think he wants to come with you?" He pointed to Kevin, who was kneeling in the mud next to him, with the gun.

"Please." Edd said calmly and took a step closer to Hyde with his hands in the air. He never thought he would dare approach a person with a weapon, but to his surprise he actually did it - because he had a reason. "Please, let him go. We promise that we-"

"- won't tell anyone, huh? That's what you were going to say, didn't you?" Hyde laughed.

"Please." Edd begged him again.

"I wouldn't get closer if I were you." James warned him.

"You can point that gun to my head if you want to; but let me just tell you something-"

Hyde turned to Kevin, who was still sitting on his knees in the mud, and kicked him straight in the face. Kevin groaned and fell backwards with his hands on his nose, which immediately began to bleed profusely.

"No! Please, stop! "Eddward shrieked. He stopped.

"I warned you." Hyde laughed. "I will continue to hurt him until you get into that car again and drive away." Edd took a step backwards. "Good, keep on going. Leave us alone now." He laughed even harder, pulled Kevin up in his collar so he sat on his knees again and hit him in his stomach.

"Stop!" shouted Nazz.

He kicked Kevin, who sat folded forwards, in the back so that he fell on his stomach on the ground. He groaned loudly out of pain again.

"Please! Stop!" Edd shouted in panic.

He couldn't handle to watch, but he knew it wouldn't make any difference if they left; clearly, Hyde was not going to leave Kevin alone. If they left, then Kevin would surely be dead within ten minutes.

It wasn't Kevin's fault that this was happening. He was fourteen years old when everything started, inexperienced, underage. Obviously, he trusted James Hyde who was nearly four years older; how would he understand that he had gotten into the claws of a psychopathic rapist? He had been brainwashed to believe that James was a god, so Kevin didn't resist; his brain had been manipulated to believe that he wouldn't have a chance anyway, so he just gave up. Hyde had certainly made Kevin believe that; because he knew Kevin could get bigger than him in the future, so he needed to make sure to break down Kevin's psyche so much he would never dare to fight back. One day he tried – which lead him to almost get killed by Hyde.

That's why he was laying on the ground today, and received kicks after punches after kicks…

Edd felt how the fight-or-flight-instinct filled him, and instead of fleeing, his muscles began to move him forward. He ran towards a man with a gun and was ready to do anything to make him stop kicking the one lying down. And to his astonishment he actually managed, in some way, to knock the gun out of James' hand before using his whole body to get him out of balance. Edd tried to tackle him with the help of his weight, but since he didn't weigh more than half the weight of the ex con, he did nothing more than just stumble a little.

"What did you expect to happen?" Laughed Hyde, who seemed to have been so surprised by Edds maneuver that he quickly forgot about the gun that was now a few feet behind him.

He grabbed the front of Edd's shirt, lifted him up, and knocked him out with his own head.

 **Nazz**  
The beast within Eddy seemed to be awakened by seeing his friend collapse in a pile on the ground, unconscious; his face was redder than Nazz had ever seen it, he roared loudly, and ran toward James Hyde, more furious than a rhino. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" He shouted.

He swung his fist at Hyde's face, but James just leaned backwards, causing Eddy to lose his balance and almost fall. Hyde laughed; punched Eddy in his stomach, and when he folded himself forwards out of pain he kicked Eddy in his face with his knee. Eddy also collapsed on the ground.

Hyde walked around Eddy's unconscious body, kicked him so he ended up face upwards. "Fuck me if it isn't..." he looked up at Eddy's car. "Well, it sure as hell is Sampson's little brother, isn't it?" He looked at Eddy again. "I'll handle him later... he won't care; he always thought you were a loser anyway."

Nazz didn't understand what she could do to save the situation, but she knew that if she didn't do anything, everyone would die. So she gathered her courage and tried her luck just like the other two, and was amazed at how strong she could get from the adrenaline that grew within her. As James expected her to aim at his face, as the other two had done, she had the chance to confuse him, and therefore directed a kick to his crotch after running up to him.

Swoosh. BAFF!

"You little bitch..." Hyde groaned as he leaned forward with both hands pressing his crotch.

Nazz thought she could try to kick him in the face now that he had no focus on her; but Hyde was faster than that. He caught her foot when it came swooshing towards his face, twisting it so that she had to turn in pain and jump on one leg. With one last yank on her foot, she was forced to lie down and could only scream; terrible pain flashed throughout her foot and leg and she realized that she had done a huge mistake; she was not strong enough to win this; and now they were all going to die.

"Scream." Hyde said with a vicious smile where he stood over her. "Shout. Cry. No one can hear you anyway." He pointed the gun at her face, which he had picked up while she was laying on the ground, loaded it...

Nazz closed her eyes, and heard a loud bang echo through the junkyard that made her jump. Thereafter, she heard a dull thump, as if something hard had hit another something hard. She thought that; she was dead now. She had been shot in her face and she was dead. This is how it feels when you die. But she didn't dare to believe herself and looked up. Above her, Hyde was still standing with the gun pointing at her, but he himself stood with squeezed eyes and rubbed the back of his head with the other hand; as if he had been beaten in the back of the head or something.

"Hey, Jim."

Nazz saw Kevin, with blood all over his face and shirt, coming up behind Hyde, and as he turned around after hearing his voice, Kevin charged with his whole body and head-butted Hyde so hard between his eyes that he collapsed on the ground with a thud. Unconscious.

Her entire inner voice cheered. She knew Kevin was going to win over Hyde! She had seen him fight before and couldn't understand how he just let Hyde hurt him like that before this. But something must have made him take courage and try anyway.

Kevin stumbled backwards and fell on the ground again, dazed after all the kicks and punches.

"Kevin..." Nazz whispered and sat up. "Kev, you saved me!"

Kevin was on his back on the ground with his hand on his face; he looked to have a lot of pain. "Someone else hit him in his head first."

"Someone else?" She asked. "Who?"

"I don't know. It sounded like an aluminum bat by that hill of crap."

"But who can have-" Nazz was interrupted as she looked around, and saw Jonny Grove jumping over scrap and car parts to get closer to them.

He slid down the last bit from a scrap hill, walked over the ground and stopped above Kevin with his fist pointed to him. "Are we even now?"

"We're even. Thank you." mumbled Kevin and bumped his own fist against Jonny's.

Jonny spotted Nazz and headed to her. He gave his hand to her and helped her up on her feet. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Despite my foot hurting..." she jumped on one leg and leaned against Jonny who held her standing up. "... so, yeah. I guess I'm okay." She replied, still in shock after realizing that _he_ was actually the one who had saved her life.

"Good." Jonny replied, and without hesitating a second more he kissed her straight on her lips.

Nazz backed away and slapped him in his face.

"That was for what I said in the cafeteria, I suppose?" He asked, and she just nodded, far too confused after all that had happened. "I did that because I, in a very childish way, wanted to avenge what happened at the bon fire party three years ago, and I regretted it immediately. Please, just give me a chance and I will try and make that up to you for the rest of my life."

She didn't know what to answer or what she would even say; everything was so sudden. "Okay." she said quickly, to get out some word at all. "Yeah, okay." An involuntary smile suddenly burst out in her face - it must have been how she actually felt. "How did you get here so fast?" She finally asked.

"I was already here." Jonny replied while walking around Eddy and Edd who had started to wake up. "Here, let me help you..." he muttered and helped Edd up on his legs.

"Eddy?" Edd asked.

"I'm okay..." muttered Eddy and felt around in his bloody mouth after broken teeth; but it seemed that everything was alright. "What do you mean you were already here?" He asked Jonny.

"I live in an old ice cream truck behind that hill. I heard you all scream so I hurried over here."

"Kevin?" Eddward approached Kevin, who was still lying on his back with his hand in front of his face to block his eyes from the sun, and sat down next to him. "How are you?"

"Besides that I feel a little dizzy and nauseous, I think I'm fine actually." He muttered back without looking up.

"I think your nose may be broken and that you suffer a concussion… Can someone call an ambulance?"

"I'm on it." Nazz said quickly and picked up her cell phone. She dialed the three-digit number, the signals sounded and then a man answered. "Yes, hi, we need an ambulance and a police officer to Peach Creek's junkyard. A man has been beating three teenagers. He had a gun... "

She quickly explained the situation, and the man in the phone said he had sent off ambulances and police cars, and that they would arrive in a few minutes.

"What a fucking hero..." Eddy murmured just as she hung up the phone. Nazz turned around and saw how he shook hands with Jonny. "If you hadn't been here... I don't think any of us would've survived."

"What do we do if he wakes up?" Nazz asked both of them; she glanced at Edd who blocked the sun for Kevin so he could look at the others.

They all looked at James Hyde who was still lying on the ground. Jonny walked up to him and kicked the gun as far as he could. "Then I'll make him sleep again." He said seriously and jerked the bat he held in his hand.

Nazz looked down at it and for the first time discovered that Jonny had carved something into the aluminum bat. Two eyes and a smile.

"Is that Plank?" she asked without thinking.

"Uh... yeah, I guess... I was bored out of my mind one day... I had a knife nearby..."

"It looks nice." she said, touched the engraving.

Jonny smiled at her.

 **Eddward**  
The whole evening was spent explaining to the police what had happened, but at eleven o'clock at night Edd was finally left alone to rest his voice. His overprotective mother had already hugged him into pieces and given him a curfew until he moved to college - not because he had done anything wrong; it was more like a princess-in-the-tower situation. But Edd didn't care about it, he let her be the way she was - she would calm down soon enough.

He called Ed to explain everything.

" _So..._ " Ed sounded like he hesitated a lot, as if it was something he didn't really dare to say.

"You can ask me anything you want, Ed." Eddward assured him. "I won't snap at you."

" _So..._ " he tried again. " _You and Kevin... you..._ "

"Yes, I think so." Edd said truthfully. "I know it comes as a shock that I... like guys... and even more so that it was Kevin I liked; but that's what it is now. It will probably take a while to get used to, I know, but-"

" _I don't mind_." Ed interrupted. " _I mean, I don't care if you like girls or guys or even sea monsters- speaking of sea monsters; May and I watched a movie last night that was about a huge sea beast that lived in the sea, and-_ "

"Wait, Ed! You were going to say something? Before you talked about the movie." Edd laughed.

" _Oh, right!_ " Ed also laughed. " _You can be attracted to whatever you want; I just mean that I don't mind one or the other. Because you're still the same old Double D... Because that's you, right? Is it?_ "

"Yes, I will still be myself."

Ed puffed. " _Whew. Good, then I have nothing to worry about. And I'm glad that Cheetah is going to prison again; Kevin didn't deserve what he did to him. I've always liked him_."

After they had hung up, he called Eddy. They ventilated a little about the day's events.

"… _and I can't believe how lucky we were that Jonny was there! What a fucking superhero!_ " Eddy said in the phone. " _Has he really been living in that place all this time?_ "

"It seems so." Eddward replied. "By the way... with him and Nazz..."

" _Yeah, I know. It looked like she wanted to be with Jonny now. Bad luck; but that's life._ "

"Eddy... is that really you?"

" _You expect me to break the phone, or..?_ "

"No, I wasn't, I-"

" _I'm messing with you, Sockhead, take it easy._ " Eddy laughed. " _I'm fine. I can take care of myself. Hey, for how long are you grounded? I don't think I've seen my mom so angry and worried at the same time before; not even when my bro lived here._ "

"Until I start college."

" _Lucky_."

"You?"

" _For life._ "

"I'm sorry, Eddy. Really."

" _No you're not. But I still have to go to the game tomorrow._ "

"Me too…"

" _Will Kevin play? I mean, he got pretty messed up today_ …"

"I haven't actually talked to him since he left with the ambulance. I called his mother and told her everything that had happened and she said she would ask him to call me tonight, but... he hasn't."

" _Yet._ " Eddy said immediately. " _He will be okay. Don't worry. I promise he'll come back from the hospital in a few days, if not tomorrow._ "

"Thank you, Eddy. I will still go and visit him tomorrow after or before the game."

" _I think you should do that._ "

"Hey, Eddy?" Edd asked before hanging up.

" _Yeah?_ "

"I'm grateful for what you did today. And I'm... I'm glad we're friends again."

Eddy took a deep breath; he had never been good at sentimental word changes. But he still replied: " _I am, too, Sockhead. And I'm sorry… for everything. Try to get some sleep now._ "

"You were already forgiven. Good night, Eddy."

" _Good night._ "

They hung up. Eddward sat in his bed and stared at his phone; as if he was expecting someone to call from the hospital any second now. But no one did, and he fell asleep of exhaustion only two minutes later; still sitting up and still with the phone in hand.

…

The next morning he awoke from the alarm that sounded at eight; which it did every Saturday. Edd had slid down a little during the night, but sat up and groaned loudly - he had fallen asleep with his clothes on; how disgusting! He pulled off the jeans that had tightened at the waist all night and went into the bathroom.

After having a refreshing shower and brushed his teeth, he went down the stairs to have breakfast. He would have to hurry if he wanted to catch up with his usual chores before going to school to watch Ed at the playoffs. Eddward sighed; he would love to go to the hospital first, too, to check on Kevin - who probably wouldn't be able to play his last game today. Suddenly he got a text. He picked up his cellphone that was in front of him on the table while he ate breakfast and read it. It was from Kevin:

 _Go to school and watch the game. I'll talk to you afterwards._

He must have understood that Edd would hesitate choosing between going or not, but now Kevin had decided for him. He took a deep breath and still felt a rock drop from his chest; Kevin was okay and he wanted to hear from Edd later in the day.

…

Eddy took him to school in his car; who after many ifs and buts had received permission from his mother to go watch the game. Ed and Sarah went in their parents' car, and Nazz went with her father; it was her big day too; as a cheerleader.

The school parking lot was almost full when they arrived fifteen minutes before the game would start, but they found the last spot at the far end of the car park; other cars had parked beside the road and on the bus stop. They hurried around the school building to the football field and the bleachers, which were also packed with people.

"It wasn't this many last year?" Eddy asked, who were not too fond of large crowds.

"Yes, it was, but you had been drinking before if you don't remember? You were very happy that day." Edd said, rolling his eyes.

"You're probably right." muttered Eddy. "I would have taken a beer before we left." He looked at Edd who didn't say anything. "I know, I know... I already have a curfew because I have been drinking and driving."

Eddward nodded, then he spotted someone on the bleachers when they tried to find seats. "There is Sarah, and Ed's parents. Should we sit with them?"

The sun shone bright this day; it was the beginning of a very beautiful summer day, and the clock was only five minutes to twelve. Eddy shadowed his eyes with his hand to try to see Ed's family. "Shouldn't we sit further down instead? There are two seats down there."

"Okay." replied Edd, and they went together and sat down in their seats.

"Hi!" Nazz saw them from the field, where she stood with the rest of the squad and stretched. Apparently her foot was okay. She waved happily and they waved back.

The school orchestra tested the notes on their tubas and banged the drums lightly. Principal Newton and the vice principal spoke to each other and read from a paper; probably the speech the principal held before the game every year. Coach Dawson peered out through the door underneath the bleachers leading toward the tactics room where Ed and his team were gathering for the game. A group of men in suits stood talking in the middle of the field with the referees; they were probably trainers from colleges that had heard of some of Peach Creek's and Lemon Brook's football players, and wanted to see if anyone had the potential to enter their college. On the other side of the field the opposite team from Lemon Brook High School stood. They stood or sat by the benches on the opponent's half of the field and stretched, laughed or talked to their coach. The families of both football teams and almost the entire Peach Creek high sat on the bleachers today, chatted loudly, laughed and screamed and everyone seemed to be looking forward to this game. There was probably not a single chair that wasn't occupied this sunny summer day.

Becky; the black-haired girl from the Horror movie club and Edd's yoga buddy; walked around the edges of the field with her camera at the ready - she was going to take the last pictures to the yearbook that everyone could buy at the end of next week.

Eddward began to feel nervous, and a little bit of guilt-conscious. He knew that this game was important to Ed... but it was also important to Kevin; if not more important. He was probably in his hospital bed right now, staring up at the ceiling, feeling angry and sad that he missed his life's most important game; and here sat Edd...

"I should probably be with Kevin right now." He muttered seriously, was about to get up.

"Let Ed see you first." Eddy pointed and nodded toward the tactics room where the door was just opening and the school band had started playing.

The entire team ran out of the room under loud cries and cheers from the audience; everyone screamed, whistled and clapped their hands, and the one who ran first and led the team was...

"Kevin?" Edd stood up from the chair to see properly; but it wasn't a mirage; it was Kevin who ran there. He had a bit of a limp but otherwise looked to be in good shape. He had black eyes around both eyes and a bandage on his nose - probably broken, as Edd had suggested.

Would he really be able to play?

Eddward looked down at the field and saw Nazz staring at him too and then looking surprised at Eddy and Edd who shrugged, but then she turned back toward the field and jumped with her pompoms and shouted: "KEVIN! YES!" her voice was almost drowned from the rest of the spectators who all shouted and clapped their hands, but Edd and Eddy heard her.

Kevin looked at her and showed his thumb before stopping in the middle of the field to wait for his team and Coach Dawson. The men in a suit followed the referees toward the bleachers and took their seats at the front where they could see the game properly. Principal Newton greeted them, but went out on the field again with a microphone in his hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." his voice was heard over the field. Everyone applauded again, and he waited until they silenced before he continued: "Welcome. We have gathered today because… "he kept the same speech he did every year and Eddward stopped listening.

Instead, he tried to catch Kevin's eyes; for Kevin seemed to be trying to find someone in the audience himself; and turned and spun discreetly to spot someone. Finally, he looked at Ed who waved to his family, followed his eyes, and then began to look among the people around them. His gaze eventually stuck to Edd, and the widest smile ever spread throughout his face - he had found the one he was looking for.

Edd smiled back but looked, blushing, at his feet.

The principal handed over the microphone to the school mascot - a guy with a peach costume. "Are you ready, Peach Creek?!" he shouted directly into the microphone. Almost the entire audience roared. "I asked you a question; ARE YOU READY, PEACH CREEK?!" they screamed even louder. "Well, this is ridiculous... ONE MORE TIME!" Now all rose, even Edd and Eddy, and shouted and clapped their hands, whistled and laughed. "Me too!" Laughed the peach. "As you know, I am the Peach Creek Honey grilled peach's mascot... a honey grilled peach... that's a lot cooler than the Peach Creek Junior High's mascot; a cobbler. Am I right?" the people in the audience laughed. "Okay, it's all fun and games, but you know what? Even though we might sound and look like delicious snacks… we are all very serious… and very dangerous… Let me introduce our beloved captain and Quarter back: KEVIN GREYHOUND BARR!"

Everybody clapped their hands again while two teammates lifted Kevin's arms. He laughed, boxed a little with them and then everyone silenced again.

While the mascot introduced the rest of the team, Edd suddenly remembered what it was time for. "Oh, dear…"

"What?" Eddy asked next to him.

But the mascot answered in Edd's place. "According to tradition, everyone in the team should give their special lady a kiss of love, a kiss of prosperity, before the game begins. Don't let us forget that tradition, right guys?"

The audience began to whistle and applaud again while the members in the football team - those who had girlfriends - ran out to the audience to find their special lady and get a lucky kiss. Every time someone in the team found their girlfriend, the whole audience applauded and cheered them on.

"Without a girlfriend this year again, Barr?" The mascot asked and shook his head sadly. It was only Kevin and three more still not moving from their places.

Ed had found May who was down on the field with Nazz and the other cheerleaders, lifted her up in the air and kissed her in front of the entire audience. It must have been news to Ed's parents who came home last night and had probably never met her, since they both looked surprised.

Lee and Marie Kanker, who were only a few rows away from them, looked at Edd and Eddy. Lee waved to Eddy, who shamefully looked away (he had told Edd about their meeting in the car), while Marie looked to decide something. She got up without taking her eyes off Edd.

"No... she must be angry with me for what happened to James..." Edd muttered.

"How could she know?" Eddy asked, but he also hesitated about what could happen.

While Marie headed towards them with definite steps, Edd looked down at the field where the mascot just shouted through the microphone: "Well, how about that! What a surprise; Barr has apparently landed a girlfriend this year!"

Kevin took three steps at a time up on the bleachers and reached Edd and Eddy just at the same time as Marie. "Where do you think you are going?" He asked her with a smirk.

"Out of my way, raccoon boy; my boyfriend is in prison again and I'm looking for a new one."

Edd puffed; she knew nothing about the junkyard.

"Oh, really?" Kevin laughed. "Who's the lucky guy this time?"

"That's none of your business." Marie snapped. She looked down at Eddward. "Are you coming, sailor? Let's get out of here."

"I, uh..." Edd stammered nervously.

"Sorry to let you down; but Eddward's with me, bitch."

"Excuse me?" She asked.

Kevin held out his hand to Edd, who took it with a shaky hand, and stood up in front of Kevin. They looked into each other's eyes; the people around them stared quietly at them.

Kevin nodded his head towards the field with a smooth smile. "Come on, I need some luck. What do you say?" Edd nodded, and then Kevin leaned forward and kissed Eddward straight on his lips.

"WHAT!" Marie shouted.

"How romantic..." Eddy muttered and looked away while awkwardly stomping with his foot.

Kevin pulled Eddward under his arm and turned him towards Marie. "Fuck off. He's taken." he said threateningly. He continued staring at her until she returned to her place next to her sister, and then looked at Eddward. "I hope this was okay? I mean... among people... "

"I don't mind." Edd replied. "It was about time."

They continued to look at each other, but were suddenly taken aback by the cheering around them. The whole crowd cheered them on; they clapped their hands and shouted.

The mascot down on the football field stood completely speechless while trying to come up with something to say, but finally said: "Okay; Barr may have violated the tradition of kissing his _girlfriend_ for luck; but I accept - so it's okay!"

They both laughed, and then Kevin quickly kissed Edd on his cheek before he ran out onto the field again.

"I wonder what that feels like." Eddy said as he sat down, still with the audience's cheering around him. "To officially date the school's most popular student; who is also the captain of the football team. That must feel extremely empowering."

Edd, who couldn't stop smiling, just said; "I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world." He waved one last time to Kevin who waved back, then both teams took their places on each side of the field – the game was about to begin.


	19. The bonfire

**LAST CHAPTER LAST CHAPTER LAST CHAPTER  
For real this time**

 **:D  
**

Comments:  
 **Agoodreader:** Maybe I will try making a darker version on the last chapter? It sounds fun acually! I do like a little gore and stress and anxciety ;) But that will be sometime in the future!  
 **Snash90:** Thank you! And here's is more!  
 **Guest:** Good! :) And thanks!  
 **Shelly:** Don't we all love a little kissing at the play offs? ^^

New favorites:  
 **Snash90**  
 **anahicruz**

This is the last chapter! Please comment! Tell me if I missed anything, if something wasn't clear enough and I will try my best and change it! Honeys; this is the last chapter. I still can't believe it no matter how many times I say it to myself D: I hope it's a good one and I hope I didn't make too many mistakes in the grammar or spelling!  
Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! YOU are the best :)

* * *

 **The bonfire**

 **Kevin**  
When he opened the door to the locker room, the whole team cheered from the cheer sight of him. They all stopped doing what they were doing, got up from the benches and went to Kevin to pat him on his back, shake his hand and congratulate him. The reason he entered last was because of all the coaches from five different colleges that had walked up to him immediately after the game and offered him a place at their schools after the summer. None of them had ever seen anyone so quick and focused on the pitch before, they said - even considering Kevin had a limp and had a broken nose ( _and_ he had still not taken any painkillers this morning); therefore he had to linger for a while, while the rest of the team went to school to change.

"Which one did you choose?" Jefferson asked as he shook his hand.

"Ohio, of course!" laughed Kevin. "Something else would have been stupid!"

The whole team cheered and shouted again. Ed walked up to Kevin and gave him the fist. "Congratulations, Greyhound." He said with a smile. "You deserve it."

"Thank you, Beefhead." Said Kevin. "Hey, where's Byrd? I want to wipe my ass with his face! What a loser!"

"He ran off as soon as everything was over." Wade Conley laughed.

"What a fucking game!" Mike Fulton said, throwing his arm over Kevin's shoulders. "As I've always said; no one stands a chance against Greyhound! Not even Byrd!"

"What was his plan, even?" Jefferson agreed and shook his head. "Try to tackle and break the leg of Kevin fucking Greyhound Barr!"

"He didn't have a chance." Said Fulton.

"He wasn't even _close_ on catching up on me!" Kevin laughed.

"So he slipped," Conley tried to gather himself during a laugh attack, "and got his shoulder dislocated so he couldn't finish playing! At least he witnessed the college coaches being impressed with you!"

"What a bitch." Kevin concluded. "My friends..." he stepped onto one of the benches with outstretched arms, as if he wanted to embrace every single person in the locker room. "... my last words as the captain of the team; thanks for three tough years together. I've seen you fight, seen you sweat, seen you get dirty; and fuck me if I haven't seen one or two of you cry!" They all laughed. "I'm proud of you, guys."

"We are proud of you, Barr!" Said Josh Andis.

"I want to thank you all for making this possible for me. After the summer I will move…"

"To Ohio!" Shouted Fulton.

"TO OHIO!" Kevin laughed with the others and punched the air with his fist while the whole team cheered again.

Kevin jumped down, got some boxes on his shoulders and then Matt Dowling shouted from the other side of the room: "Barr, you have a visit." He held the door up, and Kevin headed over to him.

He closed the door behind him and hugged Edd who had been the one knocking on the door to see Kevin, and kissed him excitedly on his mouth. "I got in on Ohio State University!" His whole body was shaking with adrenaline and he ran on the place with quick feet. "Can you believe it?"

"You did? Congratulations!" It was Edd's turn to throw himself around Kevin's neck. "I knew it! I just came by to congratulate you on the game; I have never seen a better football game my whole life, so I am not surprised that you were offered that place. Eddy is waiting; I suppose you went here with your mother?"

"Yeah, she and my brother are waiting on the parking lot..." Kevin had calmed down, he shook his head. "Had I not had you, Edd..."

"Don't worry. This day is about you." Edd grabbed hold of Kevin's arms and shook them in excite. "Ohio State University. Wow."

"I know. Wow…" he bit the inside of his cheek. "I can't believe I'm moving away from you-"

"Don't even think about it." Edd interrupted with closed eyes. "We'll deal with it when the fall comes; now we'll just enjoy each other's company."

Kevin fought back the sadness threatening to overpower him. "Yeah, we'll get to that later." He changed his tone, tried to think of something else and combed his hair back with his fingers. "So, do you hang out here in the corridor often, or..?"

Edd giggled. "Sorry; I'm taken."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Well, I'm not really the one who kisses and tells; but someone actually got here first and took my virginity last night..."

Kevin felt the butterflies begin to flutter around in his stomach by the memory of last night; a smile spread over his face. Edd knew exactly what to say to make his knees weak – some kind of brutal honesty mixed with Eddward's innocent exterior was a weak spot for Kevin. He got nervous but played along. "Who is the lucky one?"

"Oh, only the school's most popular guy." Edd turned his back to Kevin and began to walk away from him while he looked up at the ceiling; pretending to be uninterested.

"Let me guess; he is a jock?" Kevin looked down at Edd's butt; his jeans were skinny and fitted perfectly on his body, just like the dark red long-sleeved t-shirt he wore. Eddward Vincent knew exactly how clothes should sit and which colors suited him; but Kevin, for some reason, had always noticed - he just didn't know the reason he noticed it was because he has always been attracted to the younger teen with perfectly tight clothes.

"Yes, he is actually the captain of the football team."

"Should I be jealous?"

"Oh, yeah. Very much so." Edd turned around playfully and started backing up. "He is very good looking. And good with his hands."

"He is?" Kevin walked faster towards Edd, who was speeding up and slipped around the corner where Kevin caught up on him, grabbed him and pushed him up against the lockers. "Do you mean like this?"

He drew his fingers along Edd's waist, down to the edge of the jeans and put both hands inside Edd's shirt. He began to caress his stomach and up to his chest. Edd's skin blushed under Kevin's touch and he moaned quietly while his heart pounded and fluttered underneath his thin skin.

"Do you like it?" Whispered Kevin, took out one of his hands and began caressing Edd's neck. He leaned forward and put his lips on his jaw; he knew it drove Edd insane.

"Yes..." Edd breathed, who seemed to melt under Kevin's hands. "They are my biggest turn-ons. Your hands… and the way you look and smell after a game or practice…"

"Yeah?" Kevin kissed Edd gently on his lips, and Edd answered the kiss more passionately. Kevin pressed himself against Edd, who was pinned against the lockers. The kisses became more intense...

"Kevin?" Edd whispered breathlessly. Kevin leaned back to look at him. "Why me?"

"What?"

"Yeah... what do you like about me?"

"What I like about you?" Kevin smiled unsurely with one raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, and don't say everything; for that is not true. I want to know... for real."

Kevin thought for a little while. "You understand me. You're patient. You accept me for who I am. You're intelligent…"

"I specifically want to know what your turn-ons are." Edd giggled and bit his lip. "I said your hands and your raw sportiness."

"Your big brain _is_ one of the things. I like how smart you are... you are so nerdy and neat among people, but once you're in the darkness... with me ... you turn into this sexy... horny little..."

"Okay, boys, that's enough! Let go of each other." Coach Dawson said aloud.

Kevin shrugged, but walked slowly away from Edd with a playful, somewhat embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Coach."

"Everyone should be out of the building in five minutes. Kevin, hit the showers. Mr. Vincent... outside."

Edd quickly followed Dawson's finger toward the front door. Dawson put a firm hand on Edd's back and followed him through the corridor.

Kevin licked his upper teeth, thought quickly and then chuckled. "Hey, Eddward?" He shouted through the corridor.

Edd turned his head, but was still pushed forward by Dawson. "Yes?" He called back.

"Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Edd stopped to stare at Kevin, but Dawson just pushed harder with his hand on his back, making his shoes make that squeak sound on the floor. "Are you kidding me?" Edd said; his eyes began to shine. "Of course I want to!"

"I'll come to you tonight!" Kevin opened the door to the locker room, laughed a little at the sight that Edd could do nothing but be shooed by his coach.

"Okay, Kevin!" Said Eddward. "See you tonight!" The door was closed in front of him and he waved through the window next to the door before he disappeared.

Kevin smiled at Dawson as he approached him, and for the first time ever Coach Dawson smiled back. "Congratulations, Barr. It was a tough game today." He patted him on the back. "Hurry now; you don't want Vincent to wait, right?"

That's why Kevin liked his coach so much; he never made a big deal out of things. He didn't even mention that Kevin had come out just a few hours ago; it was as if it had always been like this.

...

He said goodbye to his teammates on the parking lot and got into his mother's car, dodged every question she had about him kissing Edd before the game, and when they arrived to the cul-de-sac, Kevin was the first one to go into the house - he wanted to change before they went to the restaurant to celebrate the victory. He unlocked the door, opened it and stepped into the house.

"Honey, I'm home!" He shouted without thinking.

It took him a few seconds to understand why his dog didn't meet with him in the hallway. The habit of calling her as he came home was still there, and since he had been so distracted with trying to talk about something else than the kiss in the car he had forgotten that Honey was gone. His heart ripped his chest into pieces as he was reminded that he would never hear her claws and paws click on the floor to welcome him home after a rough day.

"How are you?" Asked his mother when she came in through the door behind him.

"I just... miss Honey." Kevin muttered truthfully, feeling a rock in his stomach starting to grow.

"I know… me too." Replied his mother and sighed. It had only been three days since they had to put her to sleep, so her absence was strong. "She was a fantastic dog."

"Yeah..." Kevin walked slowly through the house and into his downstairs bedroom where he silently changed from trainers to jeans and shirt.

 **Eddward**  
There was a party at Nazz's place that same night; one of the biggest parties the cul-de-sac had ever seen. Her father had agreed to let her have the victory party at their house this evening, while the rest of the parents in the area tried to help and keep track of their young ones. Of course, no one was allowed to drink alcohol... so of course they were all very sneaky about it.

The parents in the area were taking turns to check on the teens inside the house and sneak around the yard without trying to disturb the teenagers; and this time it was actually a successful party without something breaking or someone getting too drunk. No police, fire brigade or ambulances needed to be called there.

Edd and Kevin were probably the only ones who didn't attend that party; they had only heard about the things that had happened during the evening - and besides that Ed and May had managed to sneak into Nazz's room and have intercourse for the first time, there was nothing special that had happened. Edd and Kevin were the only two teens who were left out because they were sitting on the field together; so even though they weren't at the party, they could still hear it.

They sat in front of Honey's wooden cross; the cross that was nailed into the ground at her grave which Kevin had dug for her. He tried to be strong and talk about all the good memories he had of her, but tears constantly ran down his cheeks, even though he smiled. Edd sat next to him and patted him on his arm and held his hand, listened to what he had to say and remembered some things from the dog's way too short life as well.

When the sun set, the party had taken more power, so Edd and Kevin decided to take a long walk to be able to hear each other, and they were not at home at the cul-de-sac until late at night.

"We will probably not be able to see each other much this week." Edd said where they were standing outside his house to say good night.

"Why not?" Kevin asked.

"We have tests all next week; so I will need to study, and I think I'll start tomorrow... maybe I'll do a little tonight before I go to bed."

"I had forgotten the test week..." Kevin groaned. "And that you're a nerd…"

"It's more important to you." Edd reminded him, and smiled a little at Kevin's lame joke. "Nathalie asked me to tell you she'll be waiting for you at her house tomorrow morning. You have to study all day tomorrow."

"Are you serious? On a Sunday?"

Edd nodded seriously. "Of course we will still keep contact via phone calls, and you can always come over to my house if you need to talk about any important stuff..." he thought of Kevin's dog and felt guilty for having to study the whole week without being able to put more energy on Kevin; but Nazz had promised to take care of him. "... and when the last test is written on Friday morning, I'm all yours." He concluded with a smile.

"I'm going to miss you." Kevin muttered and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm just across the street." Edd assured him.

Kevin snorted. Edd took a step forward and hugged him tight. Kevin relaxed and hugged back, and then they stood there for at least five minutes before parting and going home to their own houses.

 _Sunday_  
'Dear Diary,

I just can't believe how fast this day has gone! I've been studying for all the tests we will have next week; but I've been extra careful with tomorrow's test.

While I've been studying, I've also been talking to Kevin over the phone, as promised, and then I met up with him a few minutes ago to say good night. He was as tired as I am – he told me that (in his own words!) Nazz had been all up his ass all day. Poor Kevin.

I'm going to bed now; I'm exhausted!'

 _Monday_  
'Dear Diary,

I was really nervous this morning about the first four tests, but I'm sure that I will pass all of them… wont I?

I had lunch with Ed and Eddy earlier today, and with Kevin, Nazz, Jonny and May. Although I ate quickly and _thought_ that I had my daily dose of Kevin… I still wanted more. So I forgot that I was going to have the lunch break to study and went to the football field instead to toss the football with Kevin – which was not so great considering I have this fear of balls.

… Sports balls!

Ps. Apparently I agreed to have a picture of me in the back of the Yearbook today. Becky spotted us by the goal thingy as we just chatted, and wanted to take our picture and name it "the cutest couple in school". I said no but Kevin said hell yeah. Of course I wanted him to be happy… I hate having my picture taken but he loves it… and now I know why he said yes: he doesn't have to go back to Peach Creek High because… well, yeah… but I still have one year left.

Becky said it was going to be the last picture she takes for the Yearbook, and she looked a little stressed out since everything had been delayed, but still wanted it to be printed and ready for the graduation on Friday. But I hope she was happy with the picture of me and Kevin – the cutest couple in school.'

 _Tuesday_  
'Dear Diary,

I felt bad for not using yesterday's lunch break to study, so after a quick meal today I found an empty classroom where I could study for the next tests. I just hope that it went well both today and yesterday.'

 _Wednesday_  
'Dear Diary,

It's already in the middle of the week! How fast can time go? My entire days consist entirely of books and pencils and notes… and yet my head is filled to the brim with thoughts of Kevin. Having a boyfriend while being a highschooler is hard. How do people manage?'

 _Thursday_  
Last day of test writing the entire day; the last test was tomorrow morning, and then all the students would have their graduation day and the seniors would have their diplomas given to them. When the bell rang for the day, Eddward puffed out. He had promised Kevin, whom he hadn't been able to meet or text as much the last two days, to have this evening and just hang out with him. The Friday test was math; something that Edd didn't really need to study to because he could already do all the calculations - he already had the tools, the only thing needed was the questions. He was well prepared.

He headed to the senior's part of the school to find Kevin who had been cleaning out his locker for half an hour already. On the way there he passed Nazz and Jonny; who had his arm around her where they walked through the corridor. Ever since he kissed her on the junkyard a few days ago, they haven't been apart for a second, and every time they were seen together in school Jonny had his arm protectively over Nazz's shoulders and looked like he guarded her from other guys... but Edd also believed that that was the case; Kevin had told Edd about their old relationship with each other and how Jonny had kept other guys on a distance from Nazz their first year. But Nazz didn't seem to mind it; on the contrary, she peered at him every time a guy passed by and Jonny stared provocatively at them - as if he were saying " _try and get her if you dare_ " - and then she hugged him and looked at him with reverence shining in her face. But that look was never aimed at Edd, thankfully; Jonny knew he was with Kevin.

Some girls were really strange, Eddward thought, but as long as she liked it he wouldn't stand in their way. But honestly; who was he to talk?

Kevin used to be quick after each test; something Edd disliked a little because he thought Kevin could be quite sloppy. But he didn't say anything about it _to_ him; why start whining so early in the relationship.

"Hey, babe!" Kevin said, wiping the top shelf in the cabinet with a cloth.

"Hi, Kevin." Edd moaned.

"Tired?"

"Yes. Thanks for asking. How are you doing?" He leaned against the locker next to Kevin's and slid down slightly.

"Last day tomorrow, then the summer begins; what do you think?" Kevin said joyfully. "Oh… I'd forgotten about this..." he pulled out something resembling a brownish lump.

"What is it?" Edd wondered. He leaned back a little; it was Kevin's locker - that hard/soft mass could be just about anything. But had it been Ed's locker, though, that Kevin found the object in, Eddward had probably run out of school, screaming.

"I don't know... something I made in arts in sophomore year, maybe."

"Yeah, it looks like a clay figure of some sort."

Kevin smelled it, frowned and breathed out. "Nope! This is some kind of food!" He smelled it again. "Yep; a turkey sandwich." He sniffed a bit more. "With mayo!"

"Why did you smell it _three_ times?" Edd asked with panic in his voice. "Throw it away!"

"Here, catch!" Kevin threw it up in the air.

Edd backed faster than he had ever backed before. He stumbled on his feet; which he was used to; and fell down on the floor. The dark object landed flat on the floor with a damp thud between his feet and Edd squeaked.

Kevin started laughing. "Take it easy, dork, it's a piece from a broken football."

"An even more remarkable thing to keep in your locker..." Edd muttered, poking the leather piece with his foot and standing up. Kevin went to help him, and brushed off his jeans from dirt, but he patted a little extra on Edd's butt. "Did you find something?" He asked playfully and glanced back at Kevin.

"I, uh... was distracted..." he muttered.

"My eyes are up here." Edd turned around and Kevin still had his eyes locked on his pants, now on the crotch area. "Kevin!"

"Oh, sorry." Kevin scratched his neck with a smile. "I like those jeans on you."

"Thank you." Edd said happily, but felt his cheeks getting warmer; he was not used to getting such compliments. "Do you need help with the locker?"

"Oh..." said Kevin again, looked at his messy locker, on the plastic bag below it where he threw the trash and then on his already overflowing training bag with stuff he was taking home. "Aren't you gonna clean out your own locker?"

"I've never even made a mess in it." Edd teased and went to Kevin's locker and pulled out a broken ballpoint pen, and then he discovered ink stains on the shelf and on the books that had been close to it. "I only have some notes and a pencil left inside it... How- how have you succeeded doing this?" He asked, pointing at the ink spots. Kevin looked at it as well. "Did the pen explode or something?"

Kevin laughed a little embarrassed. "I don't really know... Oh, well!" He took the pen from Edd, threw it in the plastic bag, hung the training bag over his shoulder with the plastic bag in his hand and took Edd's hand in the other. "I'll finish tomorrow. Come on, let's do something fun."

Kevin had fixed his motorcycle so he could give Eddward a ride home today. He held Kevin around his stomach and leaned toward his back all the way to the cul-de-sac. He would never trade this feeling; he thrived something wonderfully behind Kevin even though it was a big motorcycle they were sitting on - he felt safe.

Kevin parked on his driveway and waited for Edd to jump off before he did, and then both turned to the front door where Kevin's mother walked out. "Sorry, I couldn't hold my excitement any longer." She said quietly and pitter-pattered towards Edd. "Kevin refuses to say anything to me; but I have to talk to you about what happened before the game started last Saturday!"

"Mom!" Kevin wheezed as he took off his helmet.

"Oh, relax; I haven't said anything to your mother yet, Eddward. Kevin has been at Nazz's all week so I haven't even had a chance to talk to him about it…"

"Thus the reason I was at her house until you and dad went to bed." grunted Kevin.

Edd, who felt warm all over his face swallowed. "Oh, but of course we should talk about it with our parents... shouldn't we, Kevin?"

"It's not that obvious." Kevin cleared his throat. "But okay... mom; this is Edd - my boyfriend."

Mrs. Barr squeaked. "Is it true? Oh, congratulations, darling!" She hugged her son and kissed him on the cheek, and to Edd's surprise, she hugged him as well. "And I'll not tell your mother; you can do that when you feel ready!" she said quietly and glanced across the street to Edd's house.

"Lucky me I got the pushy mother, right?" Kevin joked.

"Oh, I could've been so much worse." She grinned and slapped Kevin on his shoulder. "Well, are you coming in, or what? I was just going to make a fruit salad for Calvin. Want some?"

"Yes, thank you." Edd said before Kevin answered, he looked at him with raised eye brows. "What? She's nice." He whispered and took Kevin's hand as they walked toward the house.

Even though Kathleen had actually been a little too curious, both Kevin and Edd noticed that she held back much of what she wanted to say and ask. At the same time, she wanted to show Kevin that she fully accepted and supported him for who he was; but couldn't hide how excited she was that he had come out as gay - and found a partner who was also her best friend's son.

Edd's stomach contracted when he thought about how his own mother would react... Mrs. Barr had promised not to say anything to Mrs. Vincent; who she saw almost every day because they were best friends; and Edd was extremely grateful for that.

Edd hadn't heard much about Kevin's father except that he worked at the jawbreaker factory outside of town and could be quite tricky towards Kevin; but what he saw throughout the day that he spent in the Barr family house was someone else than the person he had heard about - his dad was alright. As Kevin was now his boyfriend, Edd dared ask him about his dad, but Kevin just said he must have changed because of everything that happened with James and everything; no one knew about it, and now he finally got his golden ticket to have behaved like a rogue teenager; and his dad accepted that excuse.

"But it wasn't an _excuse_..." Edd muttered. They sat on the field again in the evening.

"No, I know." mumbled Kevin.

"I don't want you to _call_ it an excuse, either. I don't want you to reduce your experience - it's the worst thing you can do."

"What should I do then? Huh? Should I think about it around the clock, feel sorry for myself and never have a normal life?"

"Of course not!" Edd said quickly; he didn't understand how Kevin could think that he meant anything like that. Kevin's temperament played a major role in all their conversations, and Edd felt this constant need to walk on his toes as he talked to him; but it had become better now that they got to know each other better. Had this conversation taken place three weeks ago he would probably have had two black eyes by now. "I just mean you shouldn't make it smaller than it is. You can _think_ whatever you want, to get through your day; but when you talk about it I don't want you to call it ' _an excuse to hurt your family_ ' - because it wasn't an excuse. It was a trauma; something that changed your entire personality and well-being."

Kevin nodded with tense lips as he looked straight forward into the forest.

"And I know it's worse for you to talk about it; so I apologize for talking about it like this..."

"No, you're right, Sockhead. I understand exactly what you're trying to say. Yes, it's hard for me to talk about it. You just mean that _when_ I do it, I shouldn't make it sound like a walk in the forest - something that can happen to anyone, or something that everyone has just _gone through_ , as a phase in life, when it really is something serious."

Edd was amazed at how understanding and conscious Kevin was - something he hadn't seen so much in the teen before; but Kevin constantly surprised him. "Yes... but then..." he didn't know what to say.

Kevin jumped closer to Edd on the grass and put his arm around him. "I know you're just trying to show that you care."

"I do." Edd replied, resting his head on Kevin's chest. "Maybe more than you can imagine." He felt a sudden need to clear his conscience so he said: "I didn't try out for the basketball team."

"What?" Kevin started laughing quietly with his arm still around Edd.

"I never tried out for the basketball team… you know that night, when you entered the showers and I was in there… without my hat…"

"Oh, yeah… Yeah, I remember… So what did you do at school that late?"

"I was in Yoga class…"

"Yoga? You?"

"Yeah… I was the only guy in that class. Every Monady night."

They were quiet for a short moment, Edd waited for Kevin to say something. "Edd?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you gay?"

"You pig!" Edd slapped Kevin over his chest while he laughed. "That's not funny…"

"No, it's hella hot. You should show me some moves right now…

"They're called positions-"

"Like that dog thing, you know?"

"You're such a- you…" Edd sighed. "Never change, okay?"

"Sure, babe."

 _Friday_  
The final test was finally written, and after lunch all students would gather in the sports hall for the diploma ceremony. Edd was impressed with the teachers who evaluated tests after tests all week long, plus those who had been sitting all morning and evaluated before the senior's graduation. Well, they did it at least every year.

Kevin, Nazz, Jonny and May bid farewell to the Eds at lunch; they were going to the sports center to change into their graduation uniforms before getting their diplomas in half an hour.

"Do I have to wear that ridiculous hat too?" Kevin whined through the cafeteria and Nazz and May laughed. Jonny seemed to also want to get out of having to wear it; he had, per usual, his arm around Nazz where they walked through the room.

"Did he finish all the tests?" Eddy asked, sitting next to Edd at the table.

"I hope so, I haven't actually asked..." he didn't dare to.

"Does he have good grades?"

"Nazz says he does; and I believe her."

Becky; editor of the school newspaper, photographer for the yearbook, Edd's yoga buddy and member of The Horror Movie Club; rushed through the cafeteria after she had seen the three friends. "Oh, good, I found you!"

"What is it, Becky?" Edd wondered.

"You three are the only ones who haven't ordered the yearbook yet and I need your signatures! I'll send the bill to you in the middle of the summer."

"Give me that!" Eddy said excitedly and stretched towards the binder that Becky had put in the middle of the table. He wrote his name at the bottom of the list. "When do we get it?" He asked and gave the list to Ed who sat closest to him.

"They actually got here today! I'll hand them out after the graduation ceremony in a few hours. So you better be there. "

"We'll be there." Eddy said without hesitation as Edd signed the list.

"Thank you for looking us up, Becky; I had forgotten about ordering it." Eddward said.

"No problem. See you in the sports hall later!" Becky closed her binder, put it under her arm and hurried through the cafeteria again.

"If this school had proms, I'd asked Becky to be my date." Eddy said out of nowhere.

Eddward and Ed just stared at him, and then Edd asked: "Becky?"

"Yeah, look at her." He said just as she disappeared through the door. "She is smart and always happy, tidy and always has something to do. She is decent - my opposite; but that's why I think we would be so perfect together. I need someone like her; someone who can get me started but still keeps her mood positive and never gets annoyed with me and my temper."

Edd clapped his hands together. "But that's perfect Eddy!"

"What is?" Asked Ed, who was no longer following them in the conversation.

"Well, he's right!" Edd turned to Eddy. "Tonight is the bonfire party, you should ask her to go with you."

Eddy's face got that sweet red color it did a few weeks earlier when he was talking to Nazz. "No, I don't know…"

But before Edd could keep trying to persuade him, a loud crackle was heard from the speakers, and Principal Newton's voice said: "All students to the sports hall for the graduation ceremony. And just like last year; the oldest students and their families will sit in the front on the stands and the youngest will sit in the back. Thanks."

"Already?" Eddward looked at his watch; it was twenty minutes left. "Well, we better find some good seats. Come on."

...

During the ceremony, the principal, some teachers and some senior students held speeches. Clips were played on the big screen; big events from this year; both with video and slide shows, and the cheerleaders danced one last time. Coach Dawson gave a special speech to the football team's captain Kevin who would attend Ohio State University after the summer, and a special statement was given to Nazz who was the only last year student who had received A's in all subjects. She threw herself over Kevin after hearing her name and received the diploma; the two had been studying harder this week than they had ever done before, and Nazz told him she didn't know what she had done without him.

The diplomas were finally handed out to the seniors and when it all was over, everyone went to the exit where Becky sat at a table and distributed yearbooks to those who had signed the yearbook list. Kevin who was first out with the other seniors just pointed at his cellphone when he caught Ed's attention; he meant that they would call each other when everything was over; the crowd was pushing him out through the door like a stream.

When it was the Eds' turn to receive their yearbooks, Eddy suddenly became aware of how he walked; he began to swing his arms and somehow leaned with his whole body; as if he were heavier on the left side. Edd, who walked right behind him, saw everything. When Eddy reached Becky's table, he stumbled, but he saved himself by hanging on to the table with his left elbow; as if that was his plan all along.

"Hey, Becky, uhm..." he straightened his back and scratched his neck. "Are you, uh, coming to-"

But Becky, who hadn't noticed that Eddy was trying to talk to her because of all sounds and everyone trying to cut in line, just took a book from the pile and handed it to Eddy: "Here you go, Eddy."

He received it pale-faced. "Oh, okay, thank you..."

Eddy left the line and Edd took his place at the table, received his book and then asked Becky aloud: "Are you going to the junkyard tonight?"

"To that bonfire party?" Becky asked and squinted a little. "No, I've never been there."

"Come tonight. We're going." Edd said and nodded to Ed and Eddy. "And you asked me to invite you to the next party I'd attend."

"No, I... I don't know... I can't go there alone, I mean, you all _have_ someone to go with..." she silenced as she looked at Eddy, and Edd noticed that she started blushing a little.

Edd decided to take the step that would either change Eddy's life for the better, or it would also be his biggest mistake. "You can go with Eddy?"

" _Dude_!" wheezed Eddy and elbowed Edd, who elbowed him back without stopping smiling at Becky.

She looked to ponder for a moment, but then leaned forward toward Edd. "You can tell him that he can pick me up at seven o'clock tonight." she said loudly so Eddy would hear.

Edd puffed. "I'll do that. See you tonight, Becky."

"See you. I look forward to tonight, Eddy. "

Eddy just stuttered nervously as he walked with his shoulders pulled up to his ears and red face, and when they arrived to the almost crowded corridor he made a joyful jump and punched his fist in the air. "YES! She said yes!"

"Congratulations, Eddy!" Ed said happily and patted him on his back; but he changed into a very different person as his phone rang and he picked it up without hesitation. He stopped by the wall and waved at Edd and Eddy. "See you later." he mimicked. It couldn't have been anyone else than his girlfriend.

"We dropped him." Eddward said. He laughed and looked at Eddy. "I knew it would be a great day."

"And you!" Eddy wrapped his arms around Edd's stomach, lifted him up in the air and spun him around two laps. "Thanks to you! Without you, I would never be going out with Becky!" He dropped Edd on the floor and began walking as he looked straight into the corridor, above everyone's heads. "Why haven't I thought about her before? She's so cute... so nice. So smart. And best of all, she loves old horror movies; just like me! Sockhead; she is perfect!"

"I know." Edd laughed. "You actually match up very well; and you have the whole summer to get to know each other better."

...

The evening came, and since Kevin had fixed the slashed tire on his motorcycle, he could take Edd on it to the junkyard where the annual bonfire party used to be. The owner of the yard was May's sister Lee's dad; therefore, the students at Peach Creek High had been able to party there every summer from generation to generation. They parked inside the gates where everyone else had parked their cars, and when Edd took off his helmet he shuddered a little - the memory of what happened last time they were here was not a very pleasant memory. He looked at Kevin who jumped off after him and locked the rear wheel in a pole in the fence, took off his helmet and put on his red baseball cap. He just became handsomer and handsomer every time Edd looked at him (he still had the bandage on his nose and two black eyes, though they were starting to fade), and Edd couldn't believe he was _his_ boyfriend.

Kevin grabbed Edd's hand and smiled. "Come on," he said, leading Edd deeper into the city dump, and finally saw a light coming from a burning fire.

Almost half the school was there, drank alcohol, danced around the fire and grilled hot dogs over it. It was a big fire with thick smoke; but Lee's dad seemed to lurk on the outskirts of the light so nothing would go wrong. Although he was, in every day's mouth, called ' _white trash_ ' he still seemed to care about the teens and fire safety. But he also owned the place and probably didn't want anything to get sabotaged.

Kevin and Edd had decided that they didn't want to drink tonight, and before they came out of sight from the gate, they spotted a green, rusty Volvo slipping in through the gate. Eddy parked, jumped out of the car, ran around it and then opened the passenger door for Becky. He looked very nervous, but it was only Edd who noticed it. Becky giggled when Eddy closed her door, and when they saw Edd and Kevin they started to head towards them.

But before they said hi each other, they saw a dark van rolling into the area. Kevin tensed up immediately and Edd pulled him closer. Eddy turned around after seeing their reactions and went straight to stand in front of Becky, who didn't understand at all what was happening. But they didn't have to worry; for those who came out of the van were May and Ed.

"Where did you get that from?" Eddy, who was closest to them, asked.

"The van? Marie's boyfriend went to prison again so I borrowed it to drive here. I wasn't allowed to borrow Terry's jeep."

"Terry- my big brother Terry? Wait! Is he the owner of that giant jeep?"

May and Ed arrived at them. Edd and Kevin walked closer to hear what they were saying and Ed replied: "Yeah, at first he drove that Volvo, then he bought a van and gave the Volvo to his roommate James. Then he, Terry, won the lottery and bought a jeep for almost all the money, gave James the van and sold the Volvo to you."

"Wait, wait, wait..." Edd, who had gotten to the people on the 'parking lot' put a calming hand on Eddy's shoulder, who had begun to seriously fume. "So my big bro _gave away_ two cars to his friend, but _sold_ me this crap?! To his own baby brother!" Ed nodded. "And how do you know all this?!"

"Uh... May told me?"

"And you didn't think that _I_ should've had access to that information? That a murderer has once been driving around in the car that I bought from my own- "

"Eddy." Edd said and squeezed his shoulder.

Eddy calmed down and looked at Becky. "I am calm. Sorry." he said sincerely to Becky.

"No, I understand, and agree completely. Clearly you are upset that your big brother sold you an _old_ car, when he had given away _two_ perfectly fine cars to his roommate! You might've expected that he would _at least_ sell the better one; which seems to be the van (though I really like your old jalopy); to you and give away the Volvo for free to his friend."

Eddy was silent for a few seconds, but then he started ranting again; but now with a smile on his face. " _Exactly_! I mean-"

Becky and Eddy started walking toward the bonfire and Edd looked surprised after them. He was astonished that Becky seemed to be such a good match for Eddy; but he had never been able to imagine in his wildest dreams that she would be so patient that she let him have an outbreak and complain to her like that. And now that Edd came to think of it - that was probably exactly what Eddy really needed; someone who listened to his outbursts instead of constantly trying to calm him down.

Becky was good. She and Eddy were perhaps perfect for each other after all.

"I can't stand to look at that vehicle right now..." mumbled Kevin next to Eddward.

Edd quickly took his hand and led him to the bonfire. Ed and May followed them.  
When they arrived they all sat on old scrap cars or other rubbish that looked like a good seat, and talked a little about the graduation and what they wanted to do this summer. After fifteen minutes Nazz and Jonny arrived to the party, and once they noticed their friends they joined them.

"Now they finally come." Kevin said with a slight sigh.

"Rumor has it that they can't keep their fingers from one another even if their lives depended on it." whispered May and giggled. "That's why they're so late. They've been ' _busy_ '." She leaned on Ed who pulled her closer to him. "Does that remind you of someone, huh, sweetie?"

Eddward turned to look at Ed whose face turned red. He nodded stiffly with a nervous smile.

Kevin pushed Edd a little in the side and Edd looked at him. Kevin smiled mischievously with raised eyebrows. Edd suddenly understood what he meant and blushed while the butterflies danced around in his stomach. "Just you wait." He muttered.

"Kevin!" Edd cried and slapped his arm. But then he rested his head on his shoulder and whispered. "I am actually looking forward to that, Greyhound." He knew that Kevin couldn't keep a straight face very long; he knew Kevin could also be shy, and he was - he almost choked on his saliva and cleared his throat as Jonny and Nazz approached them.

"Hi!" Nazz said happily and sat down next to Kevin. "Has something happened?"

"Not yet." Kevin replied. He shook hands with Jonny. "What up, Dragon?"

"Dragon?" Jonny chuckled and sat down on Nazz's other side.

"Yeah? Three weeks ago you said you wanted us to call you Dragon."

"What?" He laughed.

"Oh, yeah! I remember that, right after Kevin had punched Double D, you said your name was Dragon nowadays. I had forgotten about that." Nazz said.

Jonny shook his head. "I must have been fucking with you." He looked directly at Kevin. "But now that everything has settled again and this planet has become a little better a place to be on; maybe you want to tell us _why_ you gave Eddward that black eye three weeks ago?"

Kevin licked his upper lip while he looked down on his feet. Edd tried to see if he needed to save the situation, but it seemed that Kevin had become better at opening up - especially when he realized he had friends around him. "Honestly... it was because I heard Edd talking about my dog. You know Honey? I hated when anyone except my mother talked about her; even though it was something nice they said about her... I'm not proud of it." He turned to Edd when he said the last. "Not at all. I hate myself for beating you, can you ever forgive-"

"Just stop talking, okay?" Edd put his hand on Kevin's mouth, but took it away when he was sure Kevin wouldn't finish his sentence. "I've already forgiven you, and I'm actually glad you did punch me. Kevin, if you hadn't; we would never be sitting here together, you and me. We had never been _us_. So believe it or not; I am overjoyed that you gave me that black eye. So thank you... Thank you, Kevin, for beating me up three weeks ago. How can I ever show you my gratitude?"

Kevin smiled obliquely, turned his cap around and pulled his fingers along the screen to resemble a cowboy, then distorted his voice and accent and said through his teeth; "You can show your gratitude by giving me a kiss."

"Deal." Said Edd, leaned closer to Kevin and kissed him on his lips.

"You're both crazy." Nazz sighed and rolled her eyes.

Sarah and Jimmy snuck into the area to kick off the summer break with the other Peach Creek students; but Ed and Nazz were careful not to let them taste any alcoholic drink from any elderly. They could not ban them from being there, but they could still act like adults for the evening.

It was probably the best bonfire party that Ed, Edd and Eddy had ever participated in. And even though Kevin thought the evening was perfect, he had to swallow his own words when Rolf joined them - _now_ the evening was perfect. All the cul-de-sac kids were finally gathered again; and this time they would be friends forever. Summer was expecting new adventures, and Edd had two full months for himself with Kevin... but he refused to think about what would happen after that – he was going to live in the moment.

* * *

Do NOT forget to follow me on my tumblr: just search **jeelindberg** I upload all kinds of art and fanart there, almost entirely art from this particular fanfiction.

Please, also read my webcomic. Google **The apex king webtoon** and it'll be the first result.

THANK YOU. Again. For reading and commenting. It's been fun!  
Read my other fanfictions on this site. PPG and Harry Potter.

:)


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